Antonio Conte praises the 'great mentality' of his Chelsea players ahead of Arsenal clash

Antonio Conte believes Chelsea are a major force because his players have the mental toughness to cope with any setback.

Chelsea take on Arsenal this Sunday knowing they lost to their London rivals in the FA Cup Final in May and in the Community Shield three months later.

The 2-1 defeat in the FA Cup Final was particularly painful as they missed out on winning the Double for only the second time in their history.

But the club demonstrated during their title winning campaign an ability to bounce back from adversity and they have already shown it this season having won four straight games after a shock loss to Burnley on the opening day.

Conte feels this is an attribute seen in all the top teams. When asked if the best sides are driven by the kind of disappointment Chelsea suffered against Arsenal, he said: “Yes. I think that.

"I always see a good mentality from my players. When there is a defeat, remember after a bad start to the season, the Burnley defeat, I had a good answer from my players. This showed great mentality from my players.”

Conte still remembers the controversial nature of Chelsea's defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup Final.

Arsenal took an early lead through Alexis Sanchez, but the goal was given despite the Chile international handling the ball in the build-up.

Victor Moses was sent off in the second half for two yellow card offences and while Diego Costa equalised, Aaron Ramsey got the winner.

Some observers see Sunday's League game as a chance for Chelsea to get revenge, but Conte is downplaying such rhetoric.

He added: "You know very well that in a single game anything can happen especially if you face a strong team. In this case we played against Arsenal, that is one of the six top teams in England.

"I remember very well that game, we were also a bit … unlucky. If you remember the first goal was very strange. I am sure that this goal was (should have been) disallowed, instead we started the game 1-0 down.

"Then we tried to change the game, then a red card, with 10 men we drew, but then we concede another goal.

"When you lose there is always disappointment, but I think last season was a great season for us, a big achievement (to win the title)."