Hazard: I improved after a week with Conte at Chelsea

Chelsea star Eden Hazard said he improved after just a week working with head coach Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge.

Hazard spent two years under the leadership of former boss Jose Mourinho, winning the Premier League, Europa League and EFL Cup before the Portuguese was replaced by Conte last season.

In his first season at the helm, Conte guided Chelsea to Premier League glory – spearheaded by the in-form Hazard.

The Belgium international heaped praise on Conte, saying: “Even after a week I think I had progressed with him.

“But I think he’s shown not just at Chelsea but also at Juve that he’s a good coach and I think he has some good years ahead of him.”

Hazard, who is set to make his first club start of the campaign against Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup Wednesday following an injury-interrupted pre-season, added: “There’s a lot of tactics. It’s not always nice as a forward as you have to run, defend and everything, but at least at the weekend, you know exactly what to do, you can even close your eyes and play. That’s good.

“We work a lot. It’s not always easy in training, there are a lot of hours of training, but it bears fruit on the pitch. We play well, we won last year. You can see that that’s the key to success: work.”