Antonio Conte showed how far Watford have come by calling Chelsea's 4-2 victory at Stamford Bridge "very tough" after the champions had been left on the ropes by Marco Silva's impressive side.

Trailing 2-1 with 19 minutes to go, a Michy Batshuayi double and Cesar Azpilicueta rescued the Blues from a third straight league defeat - the first since Jose Mourinho was sacked for the same run of results in 2015.

And Watford should have put the game to bed when they led, with an increasingly animated Conte eventually relieved to have bounced back from such a poor run of recent form.

"We showed good character and spirit," he said. "We tried to fight and win. It was not easy, when you're not used to losing a game, losing two in a row - it's not simple.

"It was a very tough game against a god team in good form, with a lot of confidence. I think I want to see the positives.

"In the second half we showed good physical condition until the end. I saw a good chance for Watford at 1-1 and after they scored again they created more chances from set pieces.

"The confidence for us is not high, but to overcome this makes us stronger. When we ere 2-1 down, it was very difficult and maybe us at our worst."