Simone Zaza has claimed that Chelsea boss Antonio Conte forced his players to change their eating habits when he arrived at the club.

The Blues currently sit nine points clear at the top of the table but Zaza - who spent the first half of the campaign at West Ham United - has revealed that his former national team coach was not happy with his squad when he first arrived at Stamford Bridge.

The 25-year-old told Gazzetta dello Sport: "I expected him to do so well immediately because the more difficult things are, the more determined he is in.

"In London, he told me about the initial problems: he is someone so strict and he found himself in a world where the players ate anything.

"It took him a while to get his message across and he threatened them. Then everything took off. We had similar problems, he managed to turn around the situation, I did not. I want to do it now with Valencia."

Conte has won 22 of his 28 games in charge of Chelsea.