Spurs must be ready to pounce when rivals slip

Tottenham Hotspur v Leeds United – Premier League – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – Reaction

Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Leeds United

Antonio Conte witnessed both sides of Tottenham Hotspur during their narrow Premier League triumph over Leeds United.

The North Londoners looked lost at times during an awkward opening period which saw Dan James hand the Yorkshiremen an advantage.

However, an altogether more fluent Spurs returned after the break. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Sergio Reguilon turning the contest on its head – The Lilywhites, at times, reaching the standard the Italian will demand as he attempts to turn Tottenham into contenders.

But what about now? Conte provided an honest assessment of the Lilywhites hopes of a top-four finish this time around: “For sure, we want to fight,” he explained.

“We want to try to improve the position in the table. I think, and I must be honest, in England, the League is very, very difficult.

“Every game is very tough. You can lose points with all the teams. At this moment, there are four teams, that for many reasons – because they are working with the same coaches, – because they invested a lot of money. In this moment there are four teams and there is a gap.”

Conte continued: “But I’m not scared about this. I trust in my players, I trust in this squad. We want to fight. We want to fight to try to stay close to the positions and fight for Champions League.

“Then if there’s one team that slips up this season or makes mistakes, we must be there to try to do our best. I repeat – I don’t want to tell, ‘ok but if we finish in this position it’s good’.

“We need to improve. The club called me to improve the situation for the present but also the future. Now I’m happy. I like to work with Tottenham because I know that here I can work in the way that I like.

“I’m sure we can improve a lot and fight to be competitive in every competition. Tottenham in my idea has to fight and be competitive in every competition this season.”