Antonio Conte 'surprised' Belgium called up Eden Hazard and puts pressure on them not to play Chelsea star
The 26-year-old hasn't played since fracturing his ankle in June on international duty
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Your support makes all the difference.Antonio Conte has admitted he is “surprised” Belgium called up Eden Hazard and put pressure on Roberto Martinez not to play the forward for their forthcoming qualifiers.
Hazard is yet to play a minute of first-team football for Chelsea this season having spent the summer recuperating from a fracture in his right ankle which he suffered on international duty in June.
The 26-year-old has resumed full training at Cobham but is severely lacking match practice and is due to play for the Blues’ under-23 side in the Premier League 2 against Everton on Friday night.
Despite this, Martinez called up Hazard for the games with Gibraltar and Greece on 31 August and 3 September respectfully.
And Conte admitted that the Belgian is not yet fully fit and questioned if he is not ready to play with Chelsea then he won’t be ready for the national team either.
“I think the only player that is not fully fit is Hazard,” Conte said. “He is improving. Today in the afternoon he is playing with the U23 but he is not fully fit. The other players are available.
“I’m a bit surprised by this decision.
“I respect the decision of the coach though. If Hazard isn’t ready he will not play, it’s why he doesn’t play with us.
“Honestly I see him every day. In this situation it’s very important to give the right time to players to recover very well.
“Hazard is an important player for us and if someone thinks to accelerate the process I think it’s not the right way. In this moment we must pay great attention to not make a mistake.”
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