Antonio Conte urges Chelsea fans to give 'enemy' Jose Mourinho a good reception

Antonio Conte believes Jose Mourinho deserves a good reception from the Chelsea fans on Sunday – even though he will become the “enemy” once the game kicks off.

Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge for the first time since being sacked by Chelsea last December with his Manchester United side in the Premier League Despite the disastrous nature of his final five months in charge of Chelsea, Conte insists Mourinho should be remembered as the man who won three League titles with the club.

“He deserves a good reception because he wrote with the players and staff a part of the story of this club,” said Conte.

“When you win three championships, you remain in the heart of the fans. Then after the whistle he becomes like any of the Manchester United players, an enemy.

“I have great respect for him (Mourinho), he is a great manager. He deserves the maximum respect.”

Other than facing Mourinho, Conte will also be up against his former Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, who the Italian claims always wanted to re-join United.

“He came back to England,” said Conte. “He was born in England, in terms of his football. I remember when we took him from Manchester United, a fantastic player. A great player. He deserves all. For him, to come back in Manchester United was his dream. I wish for him the best, but only after the game on Sunday.

“We must pay attention to the whole team of Manchester United. In their team there are a lot of great players. One of these is, for sure, (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic. A player I consider a fantastic player.

"But there are many, many players. We must pay attention, the whole team, together to their type of play and to find the right solution when we have the ball, and when we are without the ball.”