Antonio Conte has praised the performance of Hugo Lloris during Tottenham’s 1-0 win at Watford and backs the Frenchman to ‘find a solution’ with the club over a new contract.
Tottenham edged out the Hornets in the New Year’s Day encounter at Vicarage Road, but had to wait for a Davinson Sanchez header in the 96th-minute to secure all three points.
Conte’s men controlled the vast majority of possession throughout proceedings and were largely untroubled by Watford, but still had to rely on Lloris on a couple of worrying occasions.
The Spurs captain made an excellent save to deny Josh King early into the second half, while later rushing bravely into the feet of Joao Pedro to tip the ball away from the Brazilian.
Although the display was one of the quieter ones in Lloris’ long Spurs career, Conte was impressed with how the World Cup winner stayed alert to be called upon when he could have easily lost focus.
After the match, he said (via Football.London): “You can see the level of the keeper in these circumstances. When for the whole game he didn’t make a save but he continued to be focused. To be focused for the team, for me that’s very important.
“When I speak with him and when I speak to the team, the link between the keeper and the team must be very important. It’s very important especially when you defend very high, with a defensive line.
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“The keeper has to follow the game and not only stay on the goal line to make saves. Hugo today showed that he’s top and he’s always focused.”
Lloris has entered the final six months of his current deal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and is now free to talk to foreign clubs about signing a pre-contract ahead of next season.
With talks of fresh terms allegedly in progress, Conte backs the 35-year-old to resolve his contract disputes soon.
He added: “For us, he’s very important and I’m sure that in a short time they can find a solution with the club [for a new contract], because he loves Tottenham and Tottenham loves him.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Lloris didn’t have much to do against Watford, but as with all world-class goalkeepers he was able to be called into action when he was needed. He keeps proving that he can still do it at this level, so hopefully will start to see talks of a new contract start to move quickly.
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