Antonio Conte has hailed Olivier Giroud's impact after arriving at Chelsea from Arsenal in January, but insisted the French striker has not superseded club-record signing Alvaro Morata after both players scored in the FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton.
Giroud was bought to help fill the void left by the departure of Diego Costa for Atletico Madrid, and started ahead of Morata in the last-four clash with the Saints at Wembley on Sunday.
The former Montpellier frontman gave Chelsea the lead in the 46th minute and substitute Morata made sure of the Blues' place in the final by doubling their advantage just two minutes after coming on.
Conte acknowledged the importance of acquiring a player with Giroud's skillset to implement his preferred tactics.
"I think, for sure, it has been a good signing for us," the Italian said.
"As you know very well, I needed a player with this characteristic; strong physically, to hold the ball up and allow our number 10 to make combinations with him.
