Chelsea stars ‘texting’ ex-No.2 Steve Holland as relationship with Antonio Conte breaks down

Chelsea players have been in contact with Antonio Conte’s ex-No.2 Steve Holland about the deteriorating relationship with their manager, reports say.

Conte’s former right hand man left in the summer to become England manager Gareth Southagate’s assistant.

Holland acted as the middle man between Conte and his players last season and his absence has been felt keenly by the Blues stars.

The Sun claim Chelsea’s first-teamers have been texting Holland as tensions continue to rise with Conte.

Chelsea’s defence of their Premier League title has got off to a dismal start as they sit nine points behind leaders Manchester City.

The Blues were beaten by City at Stamford Bridge last month and then suffered a shock defeat to rock-bottom club Crystal Palace.

Chelsea players believe Conte is overworking them and even blame the Italian for costly injuries to N’Golo Kante, Alvaro Morata and Victor Moses.

The training regimes are thought to be a serious point of disagreement and the players are missing their confidante Holland.

Chelsea stars have been disappointed with the efforts of new assistant Davide Mazzotta who has yet to attempt to be the same kind of sympathetic ear Holland once was.

The players do not feel they can go to Mazzotta with complaints and are feeling more and more powerless.

The Champions League campaign has added to their training schedule while days off have been significantly cut down.

Chelsea bounced back from the loss to Palace with a 4-2 win over Watford, but needed to come from behind.

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