Chelsea boss Antonio Conte continues war of words with Jose Mourinho: 'Last season was a miracle because we had the same players who finished 10th'

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Antonio Conte has hit back at Jose Mourinho by saying that Chelsea's title win last season was a 'miracle' given that he had more or less the same players who had finished 10th the season before, under Mourinho.

Conte has insisted that the rebuilding job after Mourinho's departure – he was sacked in December 2015, half way through the season in which the club finished 10th – is still underway. 

And the Chelsea manager, who faces Mourinho's United on Sunday, also says that he has told owner Roman Abramovich the truth about where the clubs stands and how long it will take to revive it.

Antonio Conte believes his Chelsea side defied the odds by winning the Premier League

Italian tactician Conte led the west London outfit to the title during his first year in charge

Conte had taken over a side which finished 10th under Mourinho's watch until his sacking

The predicted line-ups for Sunday's clash

Conte said: 'Last season was a miracle. It was a miracle, because we had the same players that the season before finished 10th. OK our transfer market was with Michy Batshuayi, David Luiz, N'Golo Kante and Marcos Alonso.

'But if I don't remember badly, you [the media] were the first to say Chelsea is prepared [in 2016-17] to become worse than the previous season. I remember the headlines. I have to say when I make mistakes, but also you have to do the same.

'Don't forget, and I repeat, that in the last four, five years we lost a lot of important players for Chelsea: [Didier] Drogba, [Petr] Cech, [Frank] Lampard, [John] Terry, [Branislav] Ivanovic, [John Obi] Mikel. 

'[Nemanja] Matic was last season. But I'm talking about players that wrote history in this club, because they played for many years and they played Champions League games, semi-finals, finals. Now we are restarting to build something important, to try to put the club again to be able to face this type of situation.'

Conte's comments are likely to annoy Mourinho, with Conte having previously said that the club couldn't afford another 'Mourinho season', referring to the calamitous title defence of 2015-16.

Asked whether Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and key board members Michael Emenalo and Marina Granovskaia were aware of his assessment of the club and were realistic about this season, Conte said: 'I always like to tell the truth, first of all (to) my club. 

'I think the most important thing is to try always to tell the truth. Sometimes it's better a good lie than a bad truth, but in my opinion, I'm a person who always prefers to tell a bad truth than a good lie. In this way I have the respect of the people.' 

Conte has said winning the league was a bigger achievement because the likes of Didier Drogba (pictured) and Frank Lampard had left the club

Nemanja Matic (centre) will face his former side after moving to Manchester United in July