Michy Batshuayi: Chelsea’s Diego Costa replacement backed by Antonio Conte to shine on first start against Bournemouth

ANTONIO CONTE has told Michy Batshuayi to earn his place in the Chelsea side.

The frustrated £33million striker will never have a better chance to impress boss Conte than in this afternoon’s home clash with Bournemouth.

Leading scorer Diego Costa is banned for one match, giving Batshuayi a rare opportunity.

And the Belgian will look to stake his claim for more than the 77 minutes of Premier League football he has managed so far since his big summer move from Marseille.

Conte said: “Michy’s attitude, his behaviour, have been fantastic. He wants to improve his quality. Technical quality, physical quality.

“He must do what he knows, what we are doing in the training sessions. Only this. If Michy is here, it’s because he deserves to stay here.

“We are working a lot with him on tactical aspects. But he’s showing great commitment, great work rate during training, great passion.

“For sure, he wants to play and it’s not easy when you have Costa in front of you. Costa is playing fantastic football and scoring a lot of goals.

“But I repeat, it’s important for Michy to continue to work, to continue to improve. I’m sure his moment will arrive.”

West Ham made a move to ease Batshuayi’s frustrations by asking to take him on loan from Chelsea for the second half of the season.

Today will be crucial in showing whether or not the ambitious hitman has a future at Stamford Bridge.

If he plays, all well and good — if he is overlooked when there is a glaring vacancy in the team then it is going to be tough for Conte to keep Batshuayi, 23, happy in Costa’s shadow much longer.

The player has already held talks with Conte about his lack of playing time and been assured he can carve out a future at Chelsea.

But he has also been told to watch and learn from Costa without losing his own assets at the same time.

Conte said: “I think every single player, every forward, is different for characteristics. Because the players are different.

“Michy is different if you compare him to Diego. Above all because, first of all, he’s a younger player.

“He can improve a lot. To stay close to Diego, you can learn a lot to improve your experience and improve your skills.

“But, for sure, to have those training sessions with great players improves you. In this case, I prefer not to give more pressure on the players because I think it’s no good to do that.

“Michy, if I decide to put him in the starting XI, is ready to play. It’s not important to talk and put more pressure on him.”

Conte expects a tough time against Bournemouth, who are a shining example of how smaller teams can not only reach but thrive in the top tier of English football — even in this money-matters day and age.

The Cherries sit tenth in the table with an epic 4-3 giant-killing over title contenders Liverpool already in the bag with Chelsea next in the sights of boss Eddie Howe.

Conte said: “Howe is a really good manager. He’s very young and doing really well with Bournemouth.

“I’m studying Bournemouth and how they play and I am seeing a good team with good organisation on tactical and physical aspects.

“They always try to play from the back and put good pressure on their opponents. I like Eddie Howe and have great respect for him.

“I wish him a good career, a top career, but if he continues in this way, for sure he can become a manager of a great team.”