I´m wasted on the bench – Begovic wants out of Chelsea title charge

Asmir Begovic would be happy to turn his back on Chelsea’s march towards the Premier League title in order to secure first-team football.

The Bosnia-Herzegovina goalkeeper made his fifth appearance of the season as Antonio Conte’s men eased to a 4-0 FA Cup win over Brentford on Saturday but has grown tired of playing understudy to Thibault Courtois.

Conte has acknowledged Bournemouth’s interest in Begovic and the 29-year-old is in dialogue with his coach over a departure before Tuesday’s deadline, although the league leaders’ desire to have a replacement drafted in could complicate the matter.

“I have spoken with the boss – we are quite open about it, he knows I am desperate to play, and that’s all it is really,” Begovic told reporters.

“If he can make it happen for me he will. That is something that is going to be sorted out in the next couple of days.

“I’m 29, 30 in the summer, and feel fantastic and in great shape. It would be a waste not to play and show people what I can do.”

He added: “I hope that the team lifts the title and maybe I will be part of that, but it is difficult when you don’t play for a certain amount of time. That overrides everything, your football.”

Chelsea’s next obstacle in their pursuit of another Premier League crown comes on Tuesday, when they travel to Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp’s side beat them 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in September but have endured a nightmare run of late, with Saturday’s shock FA Cup loss to Wolves coming on the back of EFL Cup semi-final heartache versus Southampton.

Conte warned his players they must guard against a backlash on Merseyside.

“Their focus will be very high,” he told reporters. “We’ll have great difficulty because when you arrive after three defeats you are very angry and we must know this.

“I’m sure that Liverpool is one of the teams that can fight to the end to win the title. They have a good coach, really good players.

“The crowd pushes them a lot and we must pay attention to this atmosphere because it will help them, but we have to play our football.”