Antonio happy for ‘good guy’ Ben

Antonio Conte has expressed his delight at Ben Davies’ performances after the defender’s impressive showing in Sunday’s 3-0 win against Norwich City.

Redeployed by his new Head Coach to sit on the left of a back three, Ben has started in there in each of our six games under Antonio so far and, despite having only played in the position seven times in his previous 219 games for the Club, he has looked at home.

Having earned 27 of his 69 Wales caps to date performing that same role though, it is a position he knows inside-out, however, it has not been until the arrival of the Italian that this side of the defender’s skillset has been regularly utilised at club level.

The 28-year-old impressed there again for us against the Canaries as goals from Lucas Moura, Davinson Sanchez and Heung-Min Son saw us home – Ben claiming an assist as well as playing a significant part in Davinson’s strike.

With the former Swansea City man moving into a back three at the start of November, our defensive displays have notably improved – we have now kept three clean sheets in our last four Premier League games and conceded just one goal in that time. Ben has certainly been catching the eye and Antonio, who has a history of utilising full-backs in the centre of defence having moved Cesar Azpilicueta there during his Chelsea days, is clearly happy with the Welsh international’s performances.

“Ben is playing very well, and I think, (in) that role specifically, I can get out the best of him,” he said. “And it happened the same with Azpilicueta (at Chelsea) and I think the three central defenders - it's important to be good defensively. But at the same time, for me, it's important to play football, have personality and play the ball.

“Also, when you find a team that's defending very low, it’s very important in this system. I need players with personality to play the ball and also to be offensive. Ben is one of these players, he shows great solidity and plays well defensively. I’m happy for him. We are talking about a really good person, a good guy. He’s always really focussed and concentrated. He played well.”