Antonio Conte explains why he took Dejan Kulusevski out of Tottenham starting XI v Fulham

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has explained why he opted not to start Dejan Kulusevski against Fulham.

The Spurs boss said he simply wanted to give the high-flying winger a rest ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Marseille.

Kulusevski has been a revelation since joining Tottenham on an initial loan deal from Juventus in January.

The 22-year-old finished the season with five goals and eight assists from 18 Premier League matches.

And this season, Kulusevski has picked up one goal and two assists from five league starts.

On Saturday, Conte opted for a front line of Richarlison, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

The Brazilian was making his first start for Tottenham and impressed thoroughly.

Kulusevski came on for the final 12 minutes of the game.

“Fantastic performances for us”

Conte, speaking after the game, lauded Richarlison’s display and also commented on Kulusevski.

“For me he played in an amazing way, honestly, honestly,” football.london quotes Conte as saying.

“Richy with Lenglet today because don’t forget Lenglet, played very well.

“With personality, with quality, also found difficult passes between the lines.

“These two players, about the new players, these two players came into our idea of football quickly.

“Richy played really well and in this way I’m also more relaxed.

“Because when you play every three days sometimes you need to give a bit of rest.

“And today I decided to give a rest to Deki. You know that Deki is having fantastic performances for us.

“But you know very well that we start the Champions League in three days, and we have to prepare for an important game.

“You know what we did last season to get this achievement and this result, and for this reason we want to enjoy, we want to try and be protagonists in this competition.”