LONDON -- Antonio Conte believes rival managers are complaining about Chelsea's greater rest time during the festive schedule simply because they are frustrated by the blistering run of form that has taken the Blues clear at the top of the Premier League.
Chelsea took maximum points from their six December fixtures to extend their winning streak in the Premier League to a record-equalling 13 matches. But the fact that they have often been given more time to recover than the teams in the chasing pack has sparked anger from some.
Liverpool drew 2-2 with Sunderland on Monday, only 48 hours after beating Manchester City, and after the match Jurgen Klopp revealed he had given his players the opportunity to sit out the game due to the lack of recovery time.
Chelsea, in contrast, have had three days between Saturday's 4-2 win over Stoke City and Wednesday's trip to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho described the extra day's rest as a "privilege" for both teams, while Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has called the variance in recovery time for the top teams "unbelievable."
"I didn't do the fixtures," Conte said when asked about the complaints. "I think this is a simple reply. The advantage is one more day of rest with Tottenham. This is an advantage if we want to speak of advantage, but I think there are advantages in other things [during a season].
"During the season different situations can happen where you can have an advantage, but for sure not this. I think now [the other managers] are angry for our position [at the top of the table], not for the fixtures."
Chelsea can increase their lead at the top of the Premier League to eight points if they beat Tottenham at White Hart Lane, as well as breaking the competition record for consecutive victories in a single season, and Conte is keen for his team to focus on the task at hand rather than indulging the comments of rivals.
"I think it's important to continue in the same way, to think of ourselves, to continue to work and don't think about the other teams," he added. "It's logical to arrive at this type of situation when you stay up [at the top of the table] and at the start of the season no one [predicted] this.
"We must be proud because 13 wins in a row is a great achievement, above all now in this league, for the players and the coaches. We know that tomorrow won't be easy because it will be a very tough game against a really good team.
"We're working very well, preparing in the right way. Tomorrow at the end we'll see the result."