Alvaro Morata joined Chelsea from Real Madrid (Picture: Getty)

Antonio Conte has explained his decision to bench Alvaro Morata for the Community Shield clash against London rivals Arsenal.

Morata joined the Premier League champions last month from Real Madrid but was not given the opportunity to make his competitive debut at Wembley.

Instead, Conte gave Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi another chance to impress after his mixed campaign last season.

Justifying his decision to bench Morata, Conte told BT Sport: ‘I don’t know why people are surprised by this.

‘It’s normal when a player arrives, he needs a bit of time to adapt to my methods and idea of football, so this is normal.

The Spaniard will start the clash from the bench (Picture: Getty)

‘It’s very difficult to see a player arrive and play straight away.’

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal will be without Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey as they bid to beat Chelsea for the second time at Wembley in the space of three months.

‘Alexis is here but it’s too short [for him to play] and Mesut has an ankle problem,’ 67-year-old Wenger said.

Blues boss Antonio Conte (Picture: Getty)

‘Aaron Ramsey has a slight calf problem that we need to protect so these three are not available.

‘Laurent Koscielny is suspended for the first two games so we need to find a solution without him for the start of the season.’

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