Conte relishing fully-fit Giroud

Antonio Conte is relishing having a fully-fit Olivier Giroud available for selection after the Frenchman ended a frustrating run without a Premier League goal for the club against Southampton on Saturday.

Chelsea looked to be heading towards a sixth Premier League defeat in nine games when they fell 2-0 down to Southampton thanks to goals from Dusan Tadic and Jan Bednarek.

But Giroud’s introduction off the bench in the 61st minute proved the catalyst for Chelsea’s comeback, as he pulled one back soon after and then got the winner following Eden Hazard’s equaliser.

The France international’s Chelsea career has been largely frustrating since he joined from Arsenal in January as he has struggled with injuries and had to be satisfied with substitute appearances for the most part, but Conte says Giroud is now in good shape and he is happy with his striking options.

“I am very happy for Olivier,” Conte told reporters in his post-match news conference.

WHAT A COMEBACK! #SOUCHE pic.twitter.com/HKhLzz1t7q

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 14, 2018

“He scored but we changed something in the second half and the difference was the approach, the spirit and the will to fight and try not to lose another game.

“We have two strikers and Olivier arrived at Chelsea in January after a bad muscular problem.

“Now he has good fitness and I try to make the best decisions for the game. Alvaro Morata scored against Leicester and Tottenham.

“I have two good strikers and I try to make the best decision at the start or during the game.

“It is important to score, when you don’t score, you don’t win. We must be happy we scored three times.”