CHELSEA manager Antonio Conte urged his players to keep up the pressure on top-four rivals Tottenham following this much-needed victory on Saturday night.

Willian scored his 13th goal of the season to put Chelsea on their way before an own-goal from Crystal Palace defender Martin Kelly before the interval looked to have put the game beyond the reach of the relegation-threatened Eagles.

Former Chelsea defender Patrick van Aanholt pulled one back late on for his side, but it wasn’t enough as Roy Hodgson’s men stayed in the relegation zone.

“This win was very important,” warned Conte. “If we want to fight for a place in the Champions League, now it will be very important not to drop points.”

It was just their fifth win in 16 games this year. Chelsea came into the match having lost consecutive matches to both Manchester clubs.

However, this victory provided three points and importantly narrowed the gap between them and fourth-placed Tottenham.

The west London club face a showdown this week with Barcelona, hoping to upset the odds following the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge recently.

Conte, however, was in optimistic mood for the Champions League clash this Wednesday.

“For Barcelona we have to prepare in the right way,” said the Chelsea boss. “We have to show great resilience.

“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world. We played a really great game in the first leg, almost the perfect game.

“It won’t be easy, we have to know this and we have to try to find the right solution to play this game.”

Palace manager Roy Hodgson was critical of his players, including Christian Benteke who was hauled off at half-time and replaced by Wilfried Zaha.

“The level of commitment wasn’t good enough in the first half,” said Hodgson. “I don’t think we had all 11 doing that in the first half. We did have all 11 doing that in the second half.”

Chelsea’s most realistic chance of silverware this season lies in the FA Cup, where they travel to Leicester City in the sixth round on Sunday.

However, Hodgson takes his men to Huddersfield Town in the league this weekend as they look to end a run of four straight league defeats.