Eden Hazard played his first minutes of the season with Belgium (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is reportedly ready to delay Eden Hazard’s return to first-team action despite the winger playing for the Belgian national team during this international break.

The 26-year-old is yet to feature for Chelsea so far this season, with Conte recently explaining that he was surprised to see Roberto Martinez call him up for international duty following a lengthy injury picked up earlier in the summer.

‘I don’t think he can play,’ the Blues boss said last week. ‘If Hazard is ready, why doesn’t he play with us? Why is he playing with the Under 23s to continue to try to improve his form?

‘I’m a bit surprised. I was a coach in the national team with Italy, but I respect the decision of the other coach. I see Hazard every day and I repeat: it’s important to give the right time to players to recover. Hazard is important for us. If someone thinks to accelerate the process… I think it’s not the right way. It’s a great mistake.’

Hazard hasn’t played for Chelsea yet this season (Picture: Getty)

Conte appears ready to stand by his belief that Hazard is not ready to play by leaving him out of this weekend’s game against Leicester City, with a place on the bench the best the Belgian can hope for, according to the London Evening Standard.

Chelsea don’t look to have missed Hazard’s influence too much so far this season, with Alvaro Morata starting in prolific form and players chipping in from all areas.

Still, Blues fans may be concerned that this is yet another example of conflict at Stamford Bridge, with Hazard clearly going against his manager’s wishes by playing for his country.

Antonio Conte didn’t feel Hazard was fit enough to play for Belgium (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea 2017/18 Fixtures

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This also comes as Hazard has admitted he’s no closer to signing a new contract with the Premier League champions.

The former Lille forward has three years left on his current deal, so there may not be too much hurry, but it was thought that Chelsea could try to sort out a new contract for the player over the summer.

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