Match-winner Fabregas must fight for place – Conte

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said Cesc Fabregas would still have to fight for his place in the team despite being the match-winner against Sunderland.

Fabregas, on just his third Premier League start of the campaign, scored the only goal five minutes before half-time by stroking the ball past Jordan Pickford.

The Spaniard had played a full part in Chelsea’s 3-1 win at Manchester City earlier this month but found himself back on the bench again for the win over West Brom last weekend.

And Conte admitted he would continue to pick the team on a horses-for-courses basis, and not just on a player’s contribution in the previous game.

He said: “Cesc is a good player for us.

“In the middle, I have four midfielders – [Nemanja] Matic, [N’Golo] Kante, Fabregas and [Nathaniel] Chalobah and I think it’s important for me to evaluate the situation, the good form of the players and the type of game.

“In some games, you need a more physical player or a player with more technique. But it’s important that Cesc played a good game.”

Conte’s roll-call of his four central midfielders seems to confirm there is no future at the club for Oscar – strongly linked with a £60m move to Shanghai SIPG in China – or John Mikel Obi, who has not featured under Conte at all during his 11th season at the club