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Antonio Conte has told his players that 'nobody gets off the boat' ahead of Napoli's clash against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League. The former Blues boss will lock horns with Liam Rosenior at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Wednesday night as they each look to progress to the next round.

Chelsea will be determined to extend their unbeaten streak, having won each of their last three games across all competitions. The west Londoners head into the match in eighth place, and anything other than a victory in Naples could see them miss out on automatic qualification to the last 16.

The reigning Serie A champions, who could be without as many as seven players due to injury, will be keen to return to winning ways following a 3-0 defeat to Juventus at the weekend. Napoli are currently 25th in the 'league phase' table, with only a play-off place up for grabs.

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Speaking to reporters on Sunday evening, Conte warned his players that 'the storm is not over'. Banging the drum ahead of the highly-anticipated fixtures, as quoted by Football Italia, the former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur boss said: "Even those who were supposed to return have slowed down their comeback.

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"It’s difficult. What I told the boys is that nobody gets off the boat. The boat is out at sea in a storm, but nobody gets off. We all have to be good at handling this moment, which has been on for a while.

"The storm is not over, and it won’t be anytime soon, so let’s all get ready, and what we must do is not lose confidence, not lose self-belief, not lose enthusiasm. The very things that have set us apart so far, because up to now, extraordinary things have been done, while dealing with very serious situations."

On how he and his players will prepare for the match against Chelsea, Conte said: "By letting the players rest, helping them recover, preparing the match a bit through video, and at the same time, you also have to touch on psychological aspects.

"Let’s not forget that before today, our last match we had lost was against Udinese. We even won the Supercoppa in an emergency, even if now it has worsened.

"The environment has to give the boys important support; it’s too easy to be a fan only when things go well. It’s a difficult moment, and I expect the fans to be close to the team, in good and bad times."

Kevin De Bruyne, David Neres, Amir Rrahmani, Billy Gilmour, Matteo Politano, Frank Zambo Anguissa and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic could all miss the game due to injury. Relishing the role of the underdog, Conte added: "There’s a Champions League match, there’s Coppa Italia.

"It doesn’t end tomorrow. The problem is that the emergency doesn’t end tomorrow either. We have to be good.

"United, compact, one single body. We need emergency, positive energy above all from the outside."