MANCHESTER, England -- Jose Mourinho has refused to be drawn on his spat with Antonio Conte ahead of Chelsea's visit to Manchester United on Sunday saying only that the Italian is "a very good manager."
Mourinho and Conte have been involved in a war of words during which the United boss highlighted his counterpart's implication in a match-fixing scandal. Conte responded by saying he like to meet Mourinho alone "in a room."
But ahead of the pair meeting at Old Trafford this weekend, the Portuguese coach was keen to play it down.
He told a news conference on Friday: "I don't want to speak about it, I'm not going to speak about it. That's not the point, very good manager, fantastic team and that's what is important for me."
Mourinho has lost to Conte's Chelsea three times since he arrived at United, although the Premier League meeting at Old Trafford ended in a 2-0 victory.
United sit three points ahead of Chelsea in the table and Mourinho -- who was sacked by Chelsea twice in 2007 and 2015 -- insists that, even with the title heading to Manchester City, this weekend's game is still important.
He said: "For the past 10 or 15 years, Manchester United and Chelsea are big matches and [this] is one more. Different circumstances because many times they were matches for the title and this time I think us and them have to agree that's not the case.
"But we play both for top four and it is a big game. I have a good relation with the [Chelsea] board. I don't forget how nice they were to me in a difficult period with the departure of my father.
"They show me in that moment they feel me as a friend. In relation to the board they know the relation with me is always good, with the players, I don't have any problem, any regret, any stone on my shoes, no problem at all."