Football
Liam Twomey, Chelsea correspondent 7y

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte pleased to have selection dilemma for West Brom

LONDON -- Antonio Conte says he is relishing the difficulty of picking Chelsea's starting XI for Sunday's match against West Bromwich Albion after Cesc Fabregas and Willian both made a significant impact during last weekend's 3-1 win at Manchester City.

Fabregas was a surprise starter at the Etihad Stadium in place of the injured Nemanja Matic and set up Diego Costa's equaliser with a pinpoint long pass, while Willian came off the substitutes' bench to score Chelsea's decisive second goal as Conte's men came from behind to record their eighth Premier League win in a row.

Matic resumed first-team training at Cobham on Tuesday and is available for the visit of West Brom, though Oscar will miss out due to illness. Pedro Rodriguez has also been in impressive form since displacing Willian from Chelsea's starting XI, but Conte insists he never wants it to be easy to pick his team.

Asked if Fabregas' performance against City in particular has given him a selection dilemma ahead of Sunday, Conte told a news conference: "I hope to have this difficult situation in every game. It means I have great competition in my squad, and that means the level in our squad is improving, is rising all the time.

"I think Cesc played a good game against City and exploited the opportunity to play from the first minute. He played very well. Now, for the next game, I have a choice of four [central] midfielders: Matic, Fabregas, [N'Golo] Kante and [Nathaniel] Chalobah.

"For sure I want this. If there is good competition, great competition, this is very important. If I haven't got problems to take the decision and end up just putting in the same lineup, it's not good."

Prior to the City match, Conte had picked the same starting XI for six Premier League matches in a row, but the Italian insists he wants to have his entire squad at his disposal as Chelsea navigate five more games before the turn of the year.

"Yes, we'll have more games -- we'll have three games in seven days," Conte added when asked about the possibility of greater squad rotation. "For this reason, it's important to have all the squad, all the players in good form. Yes, I think I could take the decision to have a rotation, but the most important thing now is to think game by game.

"Now there is West Brom. It's important to be fully concentrated on them. Then, after the game, it's important to understand that, if we have new injuries or I see some players tired. To say now, if I'll need to rotate is very difficult."

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