Antonio Conte has praised Chelsea's deadline-day signing Davide Zappacosta after an impressive debut for the Blues.

The Italian fullback scored one and assisted another as the 25-year-old helped his new side out in a 6-0 win in their opening game of the Champions League against Azerbaijani minnows Qarabag FK.

Speaking to the press following the game, Conte said: "First game in the Champions League, I decided to start with a rotation. We have to start a process to improve our players. I'm really pleased with [Zappacosta's] performance. Now we have to continue to play with him and the other players. Tonight I had a positive answer from my players."

Conte started a heavily-rotated team on Tuesday night, with Willian, Cesc Fabregas, Gary Cahill and Andreas Christensen all starting ahead of Chelsea's Premier League clash with Arsenal on Sunday.

As well as Zappacosta, Tiemoue Bakayoko also scored his first competitive goal for Chelsea as the former AS Monaco midfielder netted the Blues' fourth of the evening.