Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Conte slams Tottenham display; gives clear Ndombele verdict after boos from Spurs fans

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte during their clash with Crystal Palace

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte admitted that his side should have done much better after making hard work of their FA Cup victory over Morecambe.

Spurs came from behind against their League One opponents in a game which did not go all their way. Indeed, despite both sides having chances in the first half, it was Morecambe who took a shock lead.

Tottenham’s defending was sluggish and they struggled in the first portion of the second half.

However, Conte brought on Harry Kane and Lucas Moura and the substitutes both scored as Spurs came through 3-1 winners.

“You know very well that we are talking about Harry Kane and Lucas Moura, two of the most important players in our squad,” the manager told his post-match press conference.

“Sonny [Son Heung-min] was injured. For sure my expectation when this players came in was to change the situation.

“For a big part of the game we struggled. We had to score and had the opportunity to score very soon. Then when you concede a goal in a set piece for sure the mood and your opponent start to feel that they can beat you.

“We always struggled to be creative and in the end we have to be disappointed because we can do much better.”

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Before Moura and Kane turned it around for Spurs, Harry Winks equalised with a fine free-kick.

Taken from the left, he arced the ball right across the box as it looped over Morecambe goalkeeper Trevor Carson and into the right-hand corner.

Conte added: “Our target was to go to the next round and we won the game. For sure we struggled a lot in the first part of the game and conceded a goal from the set piece.

“We deserve to win because in these type of games you have to show your strength. They defended with 11 players and that’s normal in these games but it is important to find the right solution.”

Conte talks Ndombele performance

Antonio Conte standing on the touchline for Tottenham

While Spurs struggled all across the pitch at times, midfielder Tanguy Ndombele was particularly in the spotlight.

He came off for Oliver Skipp after 69 minutes to a chorus of boos from the home fans inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Conte said: “I was so focused on the pitch and in football you have to be good to try to change your opinion if someone is disappointed with you.

“It happened to me as well as a player with someone being disappointed in my performance.

“I think during the game you have to try the best solution to find something, especially I’m seeing that we are losing 1-0 and you have to try to change something.

“Especially when you have on the bench, players of top level. I decided to give a bit of a rest to Lucas and Kane, but if you can change the situation and you have this type of player.”

Tottenham return to action on Thursday when facing Chelsea in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.