Tony Pulis heralded Chelsea as “worthy” champions after Antonio Conte’s side secured the Premier League title with a 1-0 win over West Brom on Friday.
Pulis’ well-drilled outfit were typically stubborn in their resistance at The Hawthorns, and could even have gone ahead through Salomon Rondon or Nacer Chadli midway through the second half.
But it was to be Chelsea’s day, Michy Batshuayi coming off the bench to score the only goal eight minutes from time, allowing Conte to celebrate a title triumph in his maiden season in charge, with an FA Cup final against Arsenal still to come.
“They’re worthy champions, they take a lot of credit and could do the double,” Pulis told BBC Sport.
“They’re a wonderful team and they’ve been the best. They had a poor start but recovered from that and have been the most consistent. We gave them a really tough game though.

“We wanted to make it difficult. Our quality let us down at times. We needed the break.
“It’s the decisions that players make and a little bit of quality that makes the difference, but I can’t fault the players. Chelsea got the goal and they deserve to win the league.
“It’s good working against the top managers, which Conte is. He’s been fantastic. His enthusiasm and attitude but he’s also very good tactically.
“I had a chat with him before the game and he recognised he had to change it earlier in the season, or he might have got changed himself. He’s made it his team. Italian teams are tactically organised and well run. He changed their shape and they’ve been superb from that moment onwards.”

Atletico Madrid left-back Theo Hernandez is enjoying his loan spell at Alaves this season.
The 19-year-old youth France international has amassed 27 La Liga appearances this season, during which time he managed three assists and widely praised performances which earned plenty of interest from Europe’s big clubs, most notably Real Madrid.
Brother of Atletico Madrid’s Lucas Hernandez has previously been linked with a number of clubs including Manchester City, but Los Colchineros managed to tie him down on a new contract until 2021 and increase his former release clause of €6 million.
Real Madrid are believed to be prepared to activate his current €24 million release clause and bring him to Santiago Bernabeu, but the Nigerian 247talksports is reporting that fierce rivals Barcelona have beaten Real Madrid to the signature of the highly-rated defender.
It is reported that Barcelona have managed to convince Theo Fernandez to join them instead of Real Madrid, whereas they plan to sweeten the entire deal by offering Jordi Alba to Atletico Madrid as part of the transfer.

Nigerian media outlet 247talksports is reporting that Atletico Madrid have been showing interest in Barcelona full-back Jordi Alba.
The Catalans have emerged as favourites to sign los Colchoneros starlet Theo Hernandez, and they have reportedly promised him a regular starting berth at Camp Nou.
That means that Jordi Alba is almost certain to leave in the summer and he could move in the opposite direction.
Atletico Madrid are in the market for a new left-back considering that Filipe Luis is not getting any younger and they will try and use the opportunity that presented itself to secure the signature of the Spain international.
Alba has been struggling for playing time under Luis Enrique this season, and it appears that his days at Camp Nou are numbered.
The 28-year-old has spent last five years with the Catalans, making 114 La Liga appearances and winning three league titles in the process.

Jose Mourinho is unhappy with the “cautious” recoveries of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones but insists they have a future at Manchester United.
The defenders have missed United’s last seven matches in all competitions, with Smalling struggling with a knee injury and Jones having suffered a broken toe.
Mourinho had called on the England internationals to “be brave” and make themselves available for Thursday’s derby match with Manchester City but confirmed on Wednesday that neither will be ready.
The United manager’s frustration with their lengthy recoveries has led to speculation that both could be sold in the next transfer window.
However, when asked if they could be at Old Trafford next season, Mourinho said: “Of course they have. I hope this season.
“It’s not just about them. It’s about the philosophy and mentality around them. Cautious. Cautious. Cautious. Just a cautious approach.
“It’s a profile, it’s the philosophy of work. Just that.”
Asked if modern players are less willing to take risks with their fitness in matches, Mourinho said: “Professional football at a high level? Yeah.”


The injuries to Jones and Smalling, coupled with the losses of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcos Rojo, Juan Mata and Paul Pogba, have left United facing a minor injury crisis for the derby at Etihad Stadium.
Mourinho, however, says the players at his disposal are showing in training that they are determined to fight for results in a crucial stage of the season.
“I think the fact that we are fighting for important things still is a good motivation to keep people together, to make people make an extra effort,” said Mourinho, whose side travel to Swansea City on Sunday and Celta Vigo in the Europa League semi-final first leg next week.
“Wednesday’s training session started at 3pm: I was here at 10:30am and when I arrived some players were already here, taking care of little details and taking care of their recovery. That is motivation.
“I think maybe opponents they look at us with different eyes because we don’t have Zlatan and Paul and Marcos and Mata and Jones and Smalling.
“Maybe they look at us with different eyes but I think they are not stupid, they are not naive, and they know that we are going to give them a fight.”