‘He can do much better’ – Conte believes Spurs’ £25m man has room for improvement

Antonio Conte has said that he is pleased with Ryan Sessegnon’s display in Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Norwich City and believes the defender can use the performance to elevate his game to another level.

Sessegnon started the encounter on the Spurs bench but was called into action on 22 minutes to replace Sergio Reguilon after the Spaniard was forced off with a suspected hamstring injury.

However, the England U21 international slotted in well into the left wing-back slot against the Canaries and looked confident bombing forward as well as carrying out his defensive duties.

The display was a far cry away from that against NS Mura in the Europa Conference League over a week ago which saw the £25m signing from Fulham sent off amid a shock defeat for Spurs.

Although Spurs were unfortunate to lose Reguilon, who has been a key fixture in the Spurs side under Conte, the former Inter Milan boss was quick to praise Sessegnon’s impact against Norwich and believes he can take confidence from the display to improve going forward.

Speaking after the encounter, Conte said (via Football.London): “On one end I was a bit disappointed for Serge [Reguilon] with the injury but I spoke with him and we don’t think it’s a bad injury. In the other hand you get an opportunity to see Sessegnon come on.

“He played a good game and I’m sure that he can do much better. He has quality as a player that has great power and he’s strong physically. He needs to take confidence, with the atmosphere in the stadium. Sess is a young player but if you’re in a squad like Tottenham’s you deserve to be here and you need to show it.

“Today at the end I’m pleased because I’ve seen him for 75 minutes. He played a good game and he can do better. He is strong technically and physically.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The injury to Reguilon is unfortunate and although it doesn’t seem too bad from the outset, it could provide Sessegnon a chance for some more minutes as a starter. He responded well to the Mura blip and provided a display that should be good for his confidence.

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