Tottenham forward Harry Kane has wished “great man” Antonio Conte all the best for the future, but urged the squad to keep focused on the fight for a top-four finish.
Spurs kept alive their hopes of Champions League qualification with a crucial 2-1 win over Brighton on Saturday thanks to Kane’s 25th goal of the season late on.
It was a first win for Tottenham’s acting head coach Cristian Stellini, who has stepped up from his number two role to lead the club for the final two months of the season following Conte’s departure last month.
“We fought a lot to try to win the game”
Cristian Stellini gives his #TOTBHA reaction 🗣 pic.twitter.com/Rayp1U8BId
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 8, 2023
Conte exited the club on March 26 a week on from his explosive comments at Southampton where he took aim at his own “selfish players” after they let slip a 3-1 lead to only draw at St Mary’s.
And Kane, discussing the Italian’s departure for the first time, said: “Obviously I wish Antonio all the best. I had a great relationship with him and it was just unfortunate that for one reason or another it didn’t quite work.
“I wish him luck in his next adventure and in the meantime we’ll continue to fight with Cristian, Ryan (Mason) and the staff and try and achieve what we set out to.
“I’m not going to get into that (press conference). It was an emotional moment after we should have won the game and to concede two goals in the way we did we were all disappointed.
“He’s a great man, his emotions come out at times and that’s who he is and he owns that.
“Us players we talk amongst ourselves to keep fighting and keep improving. We know that Southampton game, we know the Everton game last week we need to do better in those moments when we’re leading.
“Overall, all we can do is keep trying to fight and that’s what we’ll do.”
Conte’s assertation that Spurs’ players don’t like to play under pressure or stress appeared to be backed up when they conceded late on at Everton earlier this month.
A dramatic 2-1 win over Brighton in a bad-tempered clash on Saturday helped halt their slide and could act as a pivotal moment in their season with a strong finish required to secure another top-four finish.
“There has been a lot of noise around us this season and we know especially in all competitions we probably haven’t been as good as we want to be,” Kane admitted.
“The bottom line is we’re still in a position to get top four and it’s important for the club. We know we need to improve, we know there are areas where we need to get better at.
“For this season now until the end of the season all we can do is fight with what we have. We’ve got a few injuries that hopefully are coming back soon. That’s what we have to do.
“We can’t think about the past, about the future, it’s about doing what we can now and that’s what we’ll try to do now.”
