Chelsea manager wants side to catch up with Manchester United

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has urged the club's players to forget about the league leaders and rather focus on catching second-placed Manchester United first.

The Premier League holders are six points adrift of Jose Mourinho's United, who picked up their third consecutive league win after they brushed Watford by a 4-2 scoreline on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, table-toppers Manchester City are 11 points ahead of the reigning champions, but Conte feels it is important to keep pace with the club directly above them.

Ahead of Blues' outing against strugglers Swansea City, Conte said: "We have to look at ourselves and not the others. Now our target must be to see the team that is before us. In this case, Manchester United.

"Our first target is to catch them up and if we are able to do this and then we can see the team who is staying before us. This must be our mentality and in every game we have to try to win and do our best."

Since the 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, Chelsea have built up a five-match unbeaten streak in the top-flight which has included one draw and four wins - one of which came in a 1-0 triumph over United.

Chelsea probably have the easier fixture list among their top-six rivals, and they can build up momentum during the festive period in order to close down on the Manchester clubs.