Saturday 3 December 2016 12:04, UK
Antonio Conte believes Chelsea have gone a long way to proving their doubters wrong ahead of one of the biggest games of the season so far.
Chelsea finished 10th in the Premier League last season but Conte has overseen a huge improvement in results and they sit top of the table after 13 matches this campaign.
A brief spell of poor form, when they were beaten by Liverpool and Arsenal in September, has been consigned to the back of Conte's memory and they face Manchester City on Saturday on the back of seven straight league wins.
Chelsea had to dig deep to rally from an early deficit and beat Tottenham last weekend and now they face as tough a challenge at the Etihad Stadium, although City have only won three of their six home games in the league so far this season.
However, Conte does not think those who questioned Chelsea's title chances can still be doing so after they embarked on their seven-game winning streak that has seen them score 19 goals and concede just one.
"I remember in my first press conference that not many people trusted in Chelsea, in our work," Conte said.
"I think this must be a great strength for us to continue to work and to change people's opinions.
"We are working for ourselves, for our club, for our fans, to show that we love this shirt, we love this club.
"It's normal if you are a great team like Chelsea, and you play or are the manager of this great team, the expectation is always high.
"Sometimes it's right to be high. Sometimes you have to wait, because you are building something important.
"But now it's important to continue to work to show that Chelsea can fight for a place in the Champions League, can fight for the title, can fight the best teams in this league.
"We want to show we are working very well and we are growing. Saturday is another step to show us if something changed compared to the start of the season."
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