Antonio Conte praised his side’s strength of character and hailed the contribution of Hugo Lloris after Tottenham thrashed Aston Villa on Saturday.
The 4-0 triumph was Spurs fourth straight top-flight triumph and seventh win in nine league games. Son Heung-min bagged a hat-trick while Dejan Kulusevski also got his name on the score sheet. It left the north Londoners fourth in the Premier League standings and edging the battle with Arsenal for a Champions League berth.
They have scored 14 goals and conceded only two in their last four outings. It is a stark contrast to earlier in the season when the Italian tactician questioned his future at the club.
And the former Chelsea chief paid tribute to the Spurs fans who made the trip north to support their heroes.
“We know the difficulty of playing Villa away, this stadium had a great atmosphere and I want to thank our fans because they were not in the same number,” he told BBC Sport. “But they pushed us from the start to the end. So to give them this type of satisfaction is great for us.
“We work to improve the players but also to make our fans satisfied about their team and that happened today.”
And the 52-year-old was delighted with the way his charges dug in to weather the storm before reaping the rewards later in the contest.
“To be resilient is important if we want to be a top team, in every game there are moments when the opponent can create difficulty and if we are not strong you will never win something or do something important,” he added.
“We are going in this aspect, I’m very happy because I have a group of players who want to show me that they will improve in many aspects.”
Conte thanks Lloris for first-half heroics
Villa boss Steven Gerrard felt the 4-0 scoreline flattered Spurs. The hosts piled pressure on the visitors goal throughout the first half.
Lloris was forced into several saves – a fact not lost on his manager.
“Hugo was amazing. We are talking about a keeper that has won a World Cup and everything with France. The captain of his national team and us,” continued Conte. “Important for us because of his experience, today we needed him and he answered very well.”
And the former Juventus coach felt it was a collective effort that helped Tottenham claim the spoils.
“We created a good chemistry between ourselves and we can speak about Son, but don’t forget Harry [Kane] and we have players on the bench who are important in Lucas [Moura] and Steven Bergwijn,” he said.
“We need to continue to work with this application and intensity and desire because the club deserves much better than fighting for fifth, sixth or seventh. I like to be competitive.”
READ MORE: Conte to hold talks ‘next week’ over shock Tottenham move to sign free agent veteran forward
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source https://www.teamtalk.com/tottenham-hotspur/antonio-conte-sets-tottenham-target-reveals-crucial-aspect-of-villa-scalp
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