CONTE SPEAKS ON CHELSEA`S EPL TITLE CHANCE

Chelsea is in blistering form but manager refuses to see Chelsea as title contenders

He speaks,

"Now it's very difficult to change completely that opinion. I think we are working very well, but if you ask me what is our target now, I repeat it is very difficult to tell you this.

"I want to wait until the end of the first part of the championship."

Chelsea have now played 590 minutes of top-flight football since their 3-0 defeat at Arsenal on September 24 without conceding, and that too is something Conte admits he could not have predicted.

He said: "I am pleased because in this league, it is very difficult to have this success and to win these six games in a row is fantastic."

Asked if his team was the best in the country on current form, Conte was equally coy.

He said: "When you arrive at a new club after a bad season like last year, you don't know what the response of the players will be because you lose a bit of confidence in your capacity.

"I am pleased because I know and also the players and our fans know Chelsea must fight until the end for something. But if you ask me if I was sure about this at the start of the season, it's very difficult."

Boro gave as good as they got for long periods in the game and, with goalkeeper Victor Valdes in inspired form, might have emerged with something to show for their efforts.

Head coach Aitor Karanka was disappointed with the result, but delighted with much of what he saw.

Karanka said: "Playing against teams like Chelsea, we knew that it was going to be a really, really tough game, but once again we showed everybody that we can compete against the best teams in the league and once again, one mistake punished us.

"To concede a goal from a set-piece is a mistake. I don't want to blame any player because I say always we win as a team and we lose as a team, but when you concede a goal from a set-piece for me, it is a mistake.

"You can't be pleased when you have lost a game, especially at home, but I am really pleased with the attitude of the players because  playing in the way that we have been doing in the last month and a half, we are in the right way."

Twenty-year-old winger Adama Traore repeatedly threatened to make Chelsea pay for not killing off the game, but ultimately failed to capitalise on a series of chances.