Antonio Conte said he needs his Tottenham players to start believing in themselves after Brahim Diaz scored to hand them a 1-0 defeat at AC Milan on Tuesday which put their Champions League campaign at risk.
Spurs barely created anything at the San Siro and after Tuesday’s defeat in the first leg of the last 16 matchup and the weekend’s heavy loss to Leicester, Conte said it was his job to give his players more confidence. “I think some players need some more belief, especially in attack. We need to rediscover that belief in we have lost in taking on your man, but there was great effort and desire,” Conte told reporters.
“My job is to give players belief in themselves… we definitely need to try and improve.” Conte has had to deal with serious injuries to Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma, which led to him having to pick youngsters Oliver Skipp and Pape Matar Sarr in midfield.
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The Italian said the pair’s performances gave him hope as he will have to do without Bentancur for the rest of the season while Bissouma needs an operation on a stress fracture to his ankle.
“To play this way in the Champions League and in San Siro in this atmosphere… they played a really good game, I’m really happy,” added Conte.
“This type of performance makes me more relaxed for the future because you consider that we could finish the season with three midfielders. I know I can count on these two players 100 per cent.”
Despite the victory, Milan coach Stefano Pioli was left pondering what might have been as Charles De Ketelaere and Malick Thiaw missed golden opportunities to add to their aggregate lead late on. Instead the seven-time European champions will have to defend a single-goal lead in London next month.
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