Despite having to work throughout the festive period for the first time in his career, Antonio Conte is hoping it will be a “fantastic experience.”
Chelsea host Bournemouth on Boxing Day before playing Stoke City on New Year’s Eve at Stamford Bridge, with former Blues boss Jose Mourinho complaining about the ease of their festive fixtures.
Conte’s wife and daughter have arrived in England to spend Christmas with him and the Italian has highlighted just how different an experience it is to his usual December programme.
He said: “My wife and my daughter will arrive tomorrow to prepare to celebrate Christmas at my house with my brothers, with my parents and the family.
“I think that's very good. This is the first experience for me and my family of playing football at this time of year. It can be, and I hope it will be, a fantastic experience. It's very strange for us.”
Conte has previously spent his Christmas in Torino where his former club Juventus play or in the south easterly city of Leece in Italy.
He also spoke about a recent Christmas spent in Dubai with his family – their forecast of bright sun and highs of 30 degrees are something he’ll have to do without this year however.
The Italian added: “In this period, we're used to going on holiday for a week. Sometimes we went to Lecce, sometimes in Torino, once we went in Dubai.
“But it's important for me, at Christmas, to stay with my family. You have to celebrate Christmas with the family. It's not important where you stay, but it's important to stay together with your family.”
Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.
You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area.
Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now!
