Oscar, of Chelsea, makes a tackle on Real Madrid’s Mariano Diaz during last weekend’s International Champions Cup match played at the Michigan Stadium, US.

Antonio Conte aims to take advantage of Chelsea’s Champions League absence to sharpen their Premier League title challenge.

The Blues finished 10th last term, a hugely disappointing campaign that cost Jose Mourinho his job in December and represented a lacklustre and unsuccessful title defence.

Guus Hiddink steadied the ship with a calm caretaker stint, allowing Chelsea to recruit Conte on completion of his Euro 2016 duties managing Italy.

Conte exploited Juve’s lack of Champions League football to swipe the Serie A title in his first season managing the Turin giants in 2011-12, and is already eyeing a repeat in west London.

“Not playing in the Champions League could be an opportunity because I will be able to work more with my players,” Conte said.

“If you ask me if I prefer this situation, I don’t because Chelsea must be in this competition. You do feel like you’re missing something when you’re not involved in the Champions League. It is a special competition and you want to play in it every year.

“But because we are not, I will have a whole week to train with my players and that gives me a chance to work with them more compared to Chelsea managers in previous seasons.”

Conte again said he was uncertain about the future of Diego Costa in the build-up to Thursday’s pre-season friendly against Milan in the US.

The 27-year-old, who joined the London club from Atletico Madrid in 2014, did not feature in Chelsea’s 3-2 defeat by Real Madrid in a pre-season friendly on Saturday due to a back injury.

British media reports are now saying Everton striker Romelu Lukaku could be involved in a potential move back to Stamford Bridge.

The Chelsea boss, meanwhile, reckons that playmaker Eden Hazard needed to work on his physical strength and fitness to play as a forward, after the Belgian came off the bench to score twice in the friendly against Real.

“Eden Hazard played 30 minutes and he is recovering a good shape,” Conte, who played 20 times for the Italian national team, said.

“I like him in this position, like a forward, and he can be a good solution for us... also playing as a winger.

“To play as a second forward he must improve his shape but he is working and he knows his shape in the same way as the other players.”

Chelsea begin their league campaign with a London derby against West Ham United at Stamford Bridge on August 15.