Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte has admitted that his side faces a ‘very difficult’ task in qualifying for the Champions League but vowed to keep fighting.

The Blues were comprehensively beaten by Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League for the first time at Stamford Bridge since 1990 on Sunday, and the former Italy boss has blamed a loss of confidence for the 3-1 defeat.

Chelsea opened the scoring through Alvaro Morata before a long-range strike from Christian Eriksen levelled the scores on the stroke of half-time.

Two goals in five minutes from Dele Alli then secured the three points, ending Tottenham’s 28-year hoodoo in west London, and piled further pressure on Conte. Chelsea are now eight points behind Mauricio Pochettino’s team and the former Juventus coach now faces an uncertain future.

‘Our first half was really good. If the first half finished 2-0, I think it is more fair than to go 1-1,’ Conte told Sky Sports.

‘In the second half I think we started well then we conceded the second goal, we lost the confidence.

‘It was very difficult to come back, it’s a pity because we knew we had the chance to try to reduce the gap with Tottenham. Now the situation is very difficult to take a place in Champions League for next season.

‘I think in this season, in many games we created many chances but we didn’t score. I think last season we were more clinical. In this game I saw Tottenham do this, they exploited every chance they had.

‘You have to try until the end to catch a place in the Champions League, in this case Tottenham and Liverpool, you have to try until the end to get three points in every game and see what happens.’

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