Gary Cahill: 'Players already benefiting from Antonio Conte arrival'

Gary Cahill of Chelsea in action during the Pre Season Friendly match between Chelsea and Fiorentina at Stamford Bridge on August 5, 2015
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Chelsea defender Gary Cahill claims that the benefits of boss Antonio Conte's gruelling training sessions during pre-season are already being felt throughout the squad.

Gary Cahill has praised the impact made by Antonio Conte since taking over at Chelsea and claimed that the team spirit has vastly improved.

The Blues began life under the former Juventus and Italy manager with a late 2-1 win over West Ham United in their opening Premier League fixture on Monday.

Conte is famed for his use of double training sessions, implemented to get his players up to peak fitness, and Cahill believes that the benefits from those gruelling pre-season run-outs are already being felt at this early stage of the campaign.

"He's added spirit, he's added organisation and a lot of discipline," he told the club's official website. "Players know exactly what their role should be at each individual time they're on the pitch.

"He's added fitness - against West Ham I felt really sharp and really fit. It's one of the toughest pre-seasons I've done. It's not enjoyable when you're doing it but you reap the rewards and I felt really strong in the game.

"He wants to win. You can see how animated he is on the side of the pitch and he's like that when we're working. He wants to win, just like the rest of us."

Chelsea return to action on Saturday afternoon when they take on London rivals Watford at Vicarage Road.

Legia's Tomasz Jodlowiec (R), Michal Pazdan(L), Jakub Rzezniczak (2nd L) vie for the ball with Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly during the UEFA Europa League first-leg Group D football match Legia Warszawa v SSC Napoli in Warsaw, Poland on October 1, 2015
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