Tottenham Hotspur head coach, Antonio Conte has revealed that he believes his side are deserving of being in the race for a top four place in the Premier League.
This comes after the Lilywhites earned a hard-fought point away to Liverpool last night, with Conte admitting a draw was fair despite a tinge of disappointment that they couldn’t see out the win.
After Heung-min Son put Spurs 1-0 up following a superb counter-attack, it looked as though a stubborn Lilywhite back line was simply refusing to concede.
However, a late equaliser eventually came in the form of a harsh deflected effort from Luis Diaz, leaving Hugo Lloris with no chance as the ball diverted into his bottom right.
When asked about the performance, Conte claimed he was satisfied with how Spurs played and earned a point at Anfield, but admitted slight disappointment as his team had a chance to win.
He said (Football London): “On one hand I think we have to be satisfied because it is not easy to play in this moment against an amazing team, especially at Anfield with an amazing atmosphere and a lot of noise. It’s not simple.
“Against Liverpool, to see Liverpool players running and have a lot of energy despite playing every three days is incredible. I think that they’re deserving everything they are reaching this season.
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“For sure for this reason too, to have a good result was positive on one hand. On the other, I think maybe we have to be a bit disappointed, and I can see it in the eyes of my players at the end of the game.
“A bit of disappointment because we had the chances to win, to win the game, especially the last time. It was an incredible chance but I repeat, good performance.
“I asked of my players to be good defensively and I think we didn’t concede to Liverpool any chances. We conceded from a deflection.
At the same time, I asked for them to be brave, with courage, because Liverpool in every game are going to press you in a strong way.
“If we are prepared and you’ve studied the way to overcome this pressure, you can find a lot of space to attack and to create problems for Liverpool. When this happened we created the chances to score, but I think the draw was fair.”
When asked about the top four race, Conte was also keen to point out that there are no easy games in the Premier League and Arsenal will face a tough test against Leeds United today.
He said: “First of all, Arsenal have to play tomorrow.
“In England no easy games. Don’t forget Brighton. Today they won 4-0 against Manchester United. Brentford won 3-0 against Southampton and against these two teams we dropped points. I want to show you that in England not easy games.
“You can’t think that ‘I’m playing against a low or medium team’. That doesn’t exist, a low or medium team in England. Every game is very difficult and for that reason, there are three games to go for us, four games to go for Arsenal.
“In every game, you have to gain three points, not easy. Not easy for us and not easy for Arsenal. We deserve to stay in this race because I think in November not many people could believe Tottenham can fight until the end for a place in the Champions League.
“Now we stay in the race and we are deserving this. On Thursday we have an important game, a vital game and a north London derby against Arsenal, our rival for this race and it’s another game I want to get three points because it will be very important to continue to have hope and to finish in the Champions League.”
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