The Italian manager believes his side must improve a great deal if they are to challenge for European football after Saturday's defeat to Arsenal

Antonio Conte has stressed Chelsea must improve after their 3-0 defeat the hands of Arsenal or risk ending up in mid-table once more.

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Chelsea had to settle for 10th place in the Premier League in 2015-16 after a hugely underwhelming season and brought in Conte in order to guide them back to the Champions League places.

Nevertheless, the former Italy boss has admitted they still have plenty of work to do.

"We must improve a lot of if we want to stay up [at the top] and not in the middle of the table," said the Italian.

"But my message is not important. The most important message is the one that arrives on the pitch. We must all understand this message, and find very soon the right solution to improve.

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"I don't sleep [after a loss like against Arsenal], I don't sleep for two nights. When I don't sleep, I reflect. And it's important to reflect.

"I got angry at half-time but I prefer to keep my words. There are rules in the dressing room. Sure I was angry but my players were also angry. We were not satisfied with our game, with our performance.

"I have to find the solution very, very soon because against Arsenal we played a very bad game."

The reverse at Emirates Stadium made it three winless top-flight matches for Chelsea, who sit eighth.