Conte ducks questions over his future after Huddersfield draw

Joe Williams

Antonio Conte ducked questions on his future and failed to confirm whether he would be Chelsea manager at the beginning of next season after their 1-1 draw against Huddersfield Town.

The Blues could still qualify for the Champions League but they are relying on Liverpool to lose their final match of the season at home to Brighton.

Conte’s men harmed their chances of qualifying by drawing at home to Huddersfield on Wednesday – a result that has kept the Terriers in the Premier League for another season.

“The only hope and intention was to keep our hopes alive and win the game,” Conte said. “We tried with all of our strength to win but the result penalised our team a lot.

“For sure we had so many chances and you must be good to take them. It is not the first time that we are not clinical, there are many circumstances for this. We must accept the final result and the commitment was impressive of the players. We tried to win the game until the end. We were a bit unlucky in many situations.

“As you know very well you have to score one goal more than your opponent to get the points and a lot of times this season we have made chances but not taken them. It is not a situation only for the strikers but the whole tyeam. We must try to improve for the future.

“Every team deserves the pionts that they have in the table. We are fifth and we must accept this.”

When asked if he will be manager next season, Conte replied: “I think for this season this is my last game – it’s always the same and I don’t have anything to add.”

When pushed, he added: “This is not my task, there is a club to judge the situation and then to take the best decision.”