Snow joke! Chelsea’s Juan Mata enjoying wintry conditions

Juan Mata admits he has struggled to adapt to the wintry conditions that have swept through London in recent days – but the Chelsea playmaker is enjoying the challenge of training in the snow.

London was blanketed with the white stuff on Friday as temperatures dropped below freezing in the capital.

Chelsea’s Cobham training ground was no exception, with Rafael Benitez’s men put through their paces as usual on Friday morning as they prepared to host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

And Mata says it is his first real experience of such conditions.

“It was difficult training in the snow,” Mata told Chelsea’s website.

“The pitch is a little hard and slippery, but it was important for us to train after a day off and move the body again.

“I’m not used to these conditions. I’ve been trying to think if I’ve ever played in this weather before and I don’t think so.

“There is no snow in Valencia, and in Madrid it was never like this, where it is covering all the pitch but it was good fun though, I’ve been waiting for the snow to come and the team all enjoyed it.”