Conte shares what he told Tottenham players at half-time vs Southampton

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Antonio Conte has suggested that he asked his Tottenham Hotspur side to be brave at half-time of their Premier League clash with Southampton on Wednesday – in comments reported by Football London.

Spurs were on the wrong side of a five-goal thriller in North London. They have now won four and lost four of their last eight games in all competitions.

Tottenham had gone in front thanks to an own goal from Jan Bednarek. However, they went into the break level after Armando Broja had equalised for the visitors.

Southampton were the better side for the large majority of the first-half. And following the game, Conte has shared what he said to his players at the break.

He also suggested that he felt that his players largely carried out what he wanted – despite the end result.

“At half-time I said ‘okay, you make a mistake but you have to play again. If you don’t want to run and press then you can’t help yourself’,” he said, as reported by Football London.

“I asked them to be brave and I think they were in the second half but then we conceded two goals we could have avoided.”

Inconsistent Tottenham need big response once again as Conte spells out demands

Tottenham’s form of late has been bizarre. There seems to be no doubt that they are making progress under Conte. And yet, four defeats in their last seven is a concern.

The one positive for Tottenham heading into Sunday’s clash with Wolves is that they have responded to their last three defeats with wins immediately after.

Of course, beating Bruno Lage’s men will not be easy. They have been one of the surprises of the season in the Premier League.

But Tottenham have produced some big performances already under Conte. And clearly, the players have complete faith in what he wants from his side.

There are likely to be plenty of twists and turns in the race for the top four over the coming months. Tottenham remain just four points off West Ham. And they still have three games in hand over David Moyes’ men.

But they need to step up this weekend. And they then need to kick on and put an end to their inconsistent form.