My feud with Jose Mourinho has ended – Conte

Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte have not seen eye to eye since the Italian took over at Chelsea

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte says his verbal sparring with Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has “stopped”.

The two meet in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday, a month after a widely report public argument.

“I’m not interested in this topic. Both said something in the past, but we stop,” said Conte.

At his own news conference, Mourinho refused to be drawn on the situation, saying: “I told you before I’m not going to speak about it. Not at all.”

The Portuguese added: “Very good manager, fantastic team and that’s what is important for me. Just that.”

Last month, Mourinho – who was twice Chelsea’s manager – referred to a four-month suspension Conte served for failing to report match-fixing, for which the Italian was later cleared of any wrongdoing.

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Blues manager Conte called the United boss “a little man” and Mourinho retaliated by saying he treats Conte with “contempt”.

Liverpool’s 4-1 win over West Ham on Saturday means United must beat Chelsea in order to return to second in the table, while Conte’s side could leapfrog their opponents into third with a victory.

Playing Liverpool means more – Mourinho

Mourinho is the most successful manager in Chelsea’s history, having overseen three Premier League triumphs, an FA Cup victory and a trio of League Cup wins.

Both reigns ended amid acrimony, and his disagreements with Conte have increased the anticipation before Sunday’s match against his former club.

However, the United boss claims facing Chelsea is not especially emotional, especially with Liverpool coming to Old Trafford next month.

“It’s any normal game and probably to play Liverpool in a couple of weeks’ time means more,” said Mourinho.

“I don’t have any bad feeling in relation to Chelsea Football Club to say: ‘Oh, I’m going to play against my former club, I am going to prove this, I am going to prove that.’

“I’ve never played against Inter since I left, but I played against Porto, Real Madrid and Chelsea. The feeling is just a good one. Not a special feeling.”

Mourinho backing Lukaku

Mourinho, meanwhile, said he is “not worried” by striker Romelu Lukaku’s failure to score in United’s matches against their top-six rivals so far this season.

Lukaku had looked set to rejoin former club Chelsea in the summer, before the Red Devils signed him from Everton for an initial £75m.

The Belgian has failed to score in his 17 Premier League games involving Sunday’s opponents – including 10 appearances he made for Chelsea between 2011 and 2014.

Mourinho said he did not know why Lukaku had not scored against their rivals.

He added: “Twenty one goals is not bad at all, and I don’t measure the players’ performances the same way you do.

“I have other points of analysis and I’m happy with Romelu’s performance even when he doesn’t score goals.”

Team news

United midfielder Ander Herrera faces a few weeks out after aggravating a muscular injury in the midweek Champions League draw against Sevilla.

Eric Bailly could make his first start since November, but Marouane Fellaini, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones all remain out.

Chelsea have no new injury concerns before their trip to Old Trafford.

David Luiz, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Ross Barkley are all still unavailable.