Antonio Conte believes that the strength of Italian coaches derives from their fear of being sacked. Conte is on the brink of becoming the fourth Italian manager to win the Premier League this decade, even as the last winner, Claudio Ranieri, was dismissed by Leicester City on Thursday night.

Managerial sackings are traditionally more frequent in Italy than in England and Conte said that fear of dismissal drove Italian coaches to work hard, because they could be dismissed at any time. English football may be catching up, but Italian coaches already have the edge.

“In Italy we are used to being sacked and we live with this situation,” Conte said on Friday. “It is not easy, but to know this you are stronger because you try with all your strength to put in 120 per cent. Because you know your life could be very short.”

English football is moving towards a continental model, though, as Ranieri’s dismissal shows. “Now I see in England these situations are increasing, and also in the Championship I see a lot of managers are sacked,” Conte said. “This is our job, and the risk of our job. We know this and we must work very hard to have good results, to try to keep our job. For sure, our job is a job with great risk.”

When Conte was captain of the Juventus team blew the Serie A title in 2000, he did not sleep for one week afterwards. Conte has had plenty of success as a player and manager, and is on the verge of even more with Chelsea. But he remembers the defeats more than the triumphs, none more so than the time when his team let Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Lazio win the scudetto 17 years ago.

Conte's Juventus threw away the title in 2000 (Getty)

Juventus were nine points clear with eight games left that year but they fell to away defeats to Verona and Perugia, allowing Lazio to steal the title instead. It was a failure that has scarred Conte and he has brought it up more than once over the last few weeks, to warn everyone at Chelsea that this title is not wrapped up until their name is engraved on the trophy.

“We lost the title in the last game against Perugia,” Conte recalled yesterday. “I was captain and I remember it well.”

The defeat continued to affect Conte as he went on to join Dino Zoff’s Italy squad for Euro 2000, which they lost in the final. “After this game I must go to the Euros with the national team,” Conte remembered, “and I didn't sleep for 6 days because it was a shock for me to lose the title.”

Conte is refusing to take his foot of the gas (Getty)

Two years later his Juventus team jumped from third place to first in the final games of the season to seal their own unlikely title. These two examples tell Conte that nothing is done with this much football left to play. “I have experienced this, this is why I continue to repeat there are 13 games and there are 39 points [left],” he said. “There is a long time to tell if we can win the title. We must be focused and go step by step.”

That is why Conte has told Chelsea to take 32 points from their last available 39, in the form of 10 wins and two draws. That would leave them on 92 points making them the second-best team in the era of the 20-team Premier League, second only to Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea who took 95 points in 2016-17. That points tally would ensure that even if Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City win all 13 remaining league games, they will be stranded on 91 points, a record score for a non-champion.

“Now I am sure to win the title we must do 32 points,” Conte said. “There is a long time left. 13 games is an enormous space of time. I am sure if we take 32 points we win the title. Otherwise anything can happen.”

Conte visited Eddie Jones this week (Getty)

Conte spent time with England rugby union coach Eddie Jones this week and said that he discussed training, motivation and team selection with a “great coach”.

“It is important to have a conversation, to compare the different ways we use during the week,” Conte revealed. “When you work very hard and find a day to work less, to rest the players. It is very important to compare methods of work, physical work, mental work, and see the way they face the game using individual analysis. I like to meet coaches of other sports.”