Antonio Conte admits it has been ‘difficult’ for him to repeatedly name Steven Bergwin on the Tottenham bench and feels the Dutch forward deserves to be playing more regularly.
Bergwijn was named among the substitutes for Spurs’ vital 3-1 win over Leicester on Sunday which kept up their pursuit for a spot in next season’s Champions League.
Harry Kane and Heung-min Son assumed their usual roles in the forward line while Lucas Moura was preferred in place of Dejan Kulusevski on the right wing.
As such, it left no room in the line-up for Bergwin, who was forced to take up a place on the bench for the 14th consecutive Premier League match (Transfermarkt).
However, Conte believes he has used the 24-year-old sparingly through no fault of the player and attributes his lack of game time to the quality of the club’s other attacking stars.
He said (via Football.London): “It’s difficult to keep him on the bench because maybe Steven is the player who deserves more but we must keep balance.
“He’s a striker, but there’s Harry, Sonny and Deki gives us quality and quantity. But maybe with Steven I’m giving him less than he deserves.”
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Bergwijn’s last start in the top-flight came in January in Tottenham’s defeat at Chelsea, days after his late heroics from the bench in the win at Leicester. The former PSV man has scored four goals in 29 appearances in all competitions this term (Transfermarkt).
Spurs Web Opinion
It is tough for Bergwijn as there are a few players ahead of him in the pecking order which makes it tough to crack the starting line-up.
He has shown glimpses of what he can offer in his cameos from the bench, though, which makes him a good depth option, but no doubt he will want to be playing on a regular basis.
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