Antonio Conte says Tottenham ‘can’t hide the reality’ after the club’s FA Cup exit to Middlesbrough.
Spurs crashed out of the FA Cup after a 1-0 loss to the Championship side after extra time, substitute Josh Coburn scoring the winner as Middlesbrough progressed to the quarter-finals.
Conte had named as strong line-up with the FA Cup representing the north London side’s last remaining chance of silverware this season, but a disappointing performance saw Spurs eliminated to lower league opposition.
The Italian admitted Middlesbrough were deserving of their win at the Riverside and says his side ‘can’t hide the reality’ of their struggle for consistent results in recent weeks.
“We lost a good chance to go to the next round and play in the quarter-finals of an important competition like the FA Cup,” Conte said at his post-match press conference. “There is for sure disappointment for the final result. I think this type of game, especially when you play away, against a team that play in the [Championship] you have to know the difficulty.
“For this reason, we had to try to kill – in a sporting way – the opponent quickly. We have had the chances to score but we didn’t take it. And then you give confidence to your opponent and you risk [defeat]. At the end, Middlesbrough won the game and deserved to go to the next round.
“Today we are talking about a defeat. The last game we won. Two games ago we lost. Three games ago we won. I can’t hide the reality. We’re having too many ups and downs. This is a problem and maybe it was also in the past. In my opinion, there is only one way to try to improve: to continue to work in every aspect.”
