Antonio Conte insists there were ‘a lot of positives’ in Tottenham’s defeat at Manchester United and has discussed the importance of his side’s senior players.
Spurs’ hopes of securing a top four finish and Champions League football were dealt a blow after a 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday, as Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick for the home side to continue the inconsistent form of Conte’s side.
The North Londoners return to Premier League action at Brighton tomorrow evening and ahead of the clash Conte says he saw plenty of positives despite his side’s defeat last time out.
“I can take a lot of positive things, to go there and play with personality, to create chances and come back twice,” he said at his pre-match press conference.
“I have seen a lot of positive things but in the end the result is you lost 3-2 so there are negative things that we have to speak about. We have to improve.
“This is a long road but we have to do our best and improve. The people that are watching our team know this team is improving and is strong and is playing to win. At the same time, to be a strong team you need to be stable.”
Harry Kane continued his impressive recent form with another goal in the loss at Manchester United, extending his recent record to six goals in his past five Premier League appearances.
Conte outlined the importance of the England captain to his plans and says he must ‘ask a lot’ from Spurs’ senior stars as the club look to finish the season strongly and secure Champions League qualification.
“He is a really, really important player for us,” said Conte. “If you want to fight until the end for this type of target, this is the moment that I have to ask a lot from the big players.
“I have to ask a lot from Harry, Hugo [Lloris], Sonny [Heung-min] and these players in this moment. They have to lead the situation and keep us there until the end. For sure, in this moment, experience is very important. We don’t have a lot of experience in this team.
“[Giving] 100% is not enough, we need to ask for 120% or 130% to try to help this type of target. It’s very important to have this type of people to lead us and try to be very close.”
