West Ham vs Chelsea: Antonio Conte defends himself against Jose Mourinho's 'humiliate' claim ahead of EFL Cup clash

Mourinho and Conte exchanged words following Chelsea's 4-0 victory over Manchester United, but the Italian is keen to move on and focus on Wednesday's clash with West Ham

Antonio Conte says he has never tried to humiliate another manager (Getty)

Antonio Conte has continued to defend himself against Jose Mourinho’s private allegation that the Chelsea manager deliberately attempted to humiliate him with his passionate celebrations during last weekend’s drubbing of Manchester United.

Conte attempted to increase the Chelsea celebrations among the stands late in the 4-0 victory at Stamford Bridge, given that the United supporters were making more noise inside the stadium despite the scoreline.

Mourinho exchanged words with Conte immediately after the full-time whistle, where he reportedly told Conte in Italian that he was wrong to try and humiliate him with his celebrations when the scoreline was so in favour of the Blues, rather than if it was 1-0.

Conte used his post-match press conference to defend himself, and spoke again on Tuesday to claim he has never deliberately disrespected another manager, with his passion sometimes confused for being a negative gesture to try and provoke a response from the opposite dug-out.

"You can see my history and my past, you can see my emotion on the bench," Conte said in a press conference ahead of this week’s EFL Cup fourth round encounter at West Ham.

"I want to stay very close to my players, to help them when we're suffering.

"I always show respect for the opponent, for the other team and the other club - my history speaks for me."

Conte was keen to move on from the weekend victory, and despite the manner in which Chelsea dominated United, he says the squad have already forgotten about it and are keen to move on and focus on the clash against their London rivals.

"I think in this moment that it is not important to talk again about a game that for me and my players, and my club is the past," he said.

"Now it is important to be very focused for tomorrow's game against West Ham.

"I am pleased for the performance of my players against United because I think we played a good game and we showed positive things but now it is important to continue and not to look at the past."

Conte could decide to recall captain John Terry for the clash with the Hammers, with the defender being left on the substitutes’ bench for the last two matches despite recovering from an ankle injury. Conte is yet to decide who he will select for the fourth round encounter at the London Stadium.


 Terry has not played since injuring his ankle against Swansea in September 
 (Getty)

Despite the experience of Terry potentially coming into the side, Conte could yet field a young team for the London derby. The likes of Nathaniel Chalobah, Ola Aina and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have featured in the first team this season, while Dominic Solanke could be given a run out two years after he was given his one and only appearance to date by Mourinho in the Champions League.

“Tomorrow we want to win,” Conte explained. “Then if I decide to put some young players in the starting XI it's because I trust them.”