Carabao cup: Why Chelsea lost to Arsenal – Conte

Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, has blamed the club’s defeat to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday to Willian’s injury.

The Italian said there were no attacking options available to him.

Willian, who has been in fine form for the Blues recently, was forced off with a hamstring injury after 30 minutes of play on Wednesday.

Conte replaced Willian with Ross Barkley – who was making his first appearance of the season – but his side went on to lose, and he felt the defeat owed much to the weakness of his bench.

The former Juventus coach told Sky Sports, “When there is an injury to one of your best players it is not simple, especially when on the bench the only substitute is Ross Barkley.

“I think Willian’s injury was decisive. We don’t have many players to make substitutions. Alvaro Morata was out.

“I was a bit forced to play with Barkley. He’s a really good player and important for Chelsea but needs bit of time to get used to playing for Chelsea and understanding our idea of football.

Chelsea are already without Morata and Cesc Fabregas and Willian’s injury comes at the worst possible time for the Blues, who are in the middle of a packed fixture list.”