Thibaut Courtois says Chelsea are doing better than expected this term after an underwhelming 2015-16 campaign and is confident they can keep up their good run of form.

The Stamford Bridge side had to settle for 10th spot in the table last year after parting ways with Jose Mourinho in December 2015.

They appointed Antonio Conte ahead of this season and the former Italy boss has made a major impact, leading Chelsea to top spot in the Premier League table following a 13-game winning streak.

"With the current run of wins, we can say we are doing better than expected after a bad season last year," Courtois told The Times of India.

"We are top of the league with far more points than we had at this time last year, or even two years ago when we were champions in the end. So that says we are doing well. It is going very well and we are very happy with the points.

"But let's not talk too soon. Let's keep working and then see where we stand in February. But I think if we keep our concentration on ourselves and what we need to do then we can keep the run going.

"The system is our secret, it not only gives cover for the goalkeeper but it's a good system for the team in general. 

"It was after the Arsenal game when we lost badly that we decided to go to three at the back in a 3-4-3 system. Since then we have trained it constantly. After that result, we had to build a new thing and we did it well."