Antonio Conte: Chelsea's FA Cup clash against Southampton won't be easy

Antonio Conte has dismissed the idea that Southampton will be easy FA Cup semi-final opponents for Chelsea.

The Blues were drawn to play the Saints in the last four of the competition on Sunday after Chelsea secured a 2-1 extra-time win over Leicester while Southampton beat Wigan 2-0 away earlier in the day.

Chelsea could have been drawn to play either Tottenham or Manchester United, but Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho's sides will instead now play each other at Wembley.

Despite Chelsea already having beaten Southampton, who currently reside in the Premier League relegation zone, 1-0 earlier in the season Conte rejected the idea the Saints will be simple to beat - as Manchester City found out when they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Wigan.

"When you arrive at this point of the tournament it’s very difficult to consider an easy game," Conte told reporters at the King Power Stadium.

"Don’t forget Man City were eliminated against Wigan.

"We must be ready to fight to try to reach the final at Wembley for the second time in a row. It will be very important for us, but we must know Southampton will have the same idea.

"We want to give the best satisfaction to our fans who pushed us a lot today. I want to say thanks to them."