Antonio Conte says he doesn't want sympathy from his Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger over the size of Chelsea's squad.
Conte has expressed his frustration this summer about his lack of options on the bench after Chelsea either sold, or allowed to go out on loan, several of their players - particularly their highly-regarded academy graduates such as Nathaniel Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Despite making four big-name signings in the form of Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Antonio Rudiger and Willy Caballero this summer, Chelsea listed just 24 players for their Community Shield clash at Wembley while their opponents Arsenal named 41 players in their squad list.
Gunners boss Wenger was subsequently asked about his need to offload players and, indeed, Chelsea's contrasting situation on Friday morning, with the Frenchman saying: "I have sympathy for him [Conte].
"But do I feel sorry for Chelsea as they don't have enough problems? Then no.
"Maybe he has the opposite problem [to me]. But if you look at the number of players on loan, they can call a few back."
But Conte responded in his press conference, held to preview Chelsea's Premier League opener against Burnley, by insisting he didn't want Wenger's sympathy.
He said: "I'm not looking for sympathy of any coaches for this situation. This is my message.
"The situation is clear. I'm not looking for sympathy of the other coaches. If the club decide to send on loan players for their development it's because these players are not ready to play for Chelsea."
