‘It is madness’ – Son opens up on quick Burnley turnaround and Golden Boot race

Son Heung-min has admitted that it is not desirable to play on Sunday lunchtime against Burnley following an intense clash against Arsenal on Thursday night.

Spurs cannot afford to bask in the glory of their 3-0 win in the North London Derby as they take to the field less than 72 hours later against the Clarets.

Antonio Conte’s men need all three points to put temporarily go above Arsenal and pile the pressure on the Gunners ahead of their trip to St James’ Park on Monday night.

Conte has conveyed his displeasure at the short turnaround between the two matches (Football.London), and Son has now echoed his head coach’s comments.

The South Korean told The Evening Standard: “To be honest, looking at the schedule, it is madness.

“We are playing Thursday night and Sunday with a really early kick-off. It is a really quick turnaround, we need to do everything to recover: good food, good sleep and get ready to go again.

“It would always be good to have a [later] kick-off [on Sunday], but if you win the early kick-off it is always good. It feels like you wake up and you go to play the game. Especially Thursday to Sunday is a really quick turnaround.

“But this is the schedule, we can’t change it and we need to be ready for every situation which we will do.

“I will try my best to sleep (after the NLD on Thursday) but if I struggle what can I do? If I am struggling I still have to try my best to recover. For me, sleep is one of the most important things to recover and I’ll do my best.”

Son looked an extremely frustrated figure when Conte withdrew him in the 72nd minute against Arsenal, with the 29-year-old just one goal behind Mohamed Salah in the race for the Golden Boot.

However, the Spurs forward admitted that he understood why the Italian decided to save his legs ahead of Sunday’s clash.

When asked about his reaction to being substituted, Son said: “I am always not happy at coming off because I want to be on the pitch because I love playing football and I want to help the team.

“I can understand afterwards but at the moment you are not angry but frustrated because you are passionate on the pitch. I can understand why because we have a really quick game on Sunday.

“I can’t promise I will score but I will do my best and I will do my best for the team and if I don’t score I will do my best.”

Son insisted that helping Spurs get into the Champions League is much more important to him than winning the Premier League Golden Boot.

When asked about his quest to catch Salah, he said: “It would be nice but for us, it is important for us to finish in the top four. Against Arsenal, performance-wise it was fantastic and I am very proud of the lads and well deserved.

“Obviously it’s a good thing that you are racing for the Golden Boot, but I have said a few times that it is important to finish in the top four than anything else. So 100 per cent I would be happy [if we qualify but I don’t score].”

Spurs Web Opinion

Son might be saying all the right things to the media but it was evident how furious he was at Conte for taking him off on Thursday.

That suggests that the South Korean is determined to chase Salah down for the Golden Boot. That is only going to be good for Spurs as he will likely give 110 per cent to ensure he gets on the scoresheet in our final two games.

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