Conte says Sessegnon still has to improve a lot for Tottenham

By Jordan Harris

Antonio Conte has told the Tottenham Hotspur app that Ryan Sessegnon still has to improve a lot, suggesting that playing regularly will help the youngster in his development.

Sessegnon has certainly been one of the success stories during a difficult start to Conte’s Tottenham tenure. There have been spells when the 21-year-old has looked destined to fall short of expectations in North London.

Conte was willing to include him in his plans. However, it appeared ominous when he was replaced during the first-half of their defeat to Wolves. The left-back was not responsible for the calamitous defending that led to the two goals Spurs conceded.

But he has bounced back from that day superbly. And he has produced brilliant displays in the wins over Manchester City and Leeds. He was also better than most in a couple of games the side lost.

Nevertheless, Conte believes that Sessegnon still has plenty to do to realise his potential at Tottenham.

“His confidence is growing, but at the same time you know very well that he has to improve. He has to improve a lot and he has a lot of space for improvement. Tactically and technically,” he told the Tottenham app.

“He’s very young and he has to continue to work very hard to give him continuity to continue to play games, that’s important for him.”

Sessegnon faces big challenge keeping place ahead of Tottenham teammate Sergio Reguilon

Sessegnon’s issue for the early part of this season – when he was fit – was the fact that he was behind Sergio Reguilon in the pecking order. Reguilon has been bright for much of his spell with Spurs.

He has capitalised on the Spaniard being unavailable recently. And he has, so far, managed to put Conte off bringing him back into the starting lineup.

There is likely to come a point when a change does take place. The wing-backs are absolutely crucial to Conte’s system. And he will want to keep his players fresh.

But Sessegnon has done well to make himself the first-choice for Tottenham right now. He will hope to continue repaying Conte’s faith by making the kind of improvement the Italian is seemingly looking for in the months ahead.