Harry Kane lauds brilliant Antonio Conte for changing Spurs mindset

England
striker Harry Kane on Saturday heaped praise on Italian manager Antonio Conte for
the change he has inculcated in Tottenham Hotspur’s mindset, which has seen the
club progress to the FA Cup fifth round and return into contention for the
Champions League.

“He has
been brilliant. I cannot speak highly enough of him and he has really changed
the mindset of the team. We have to keep working hard on and off the pitch,”
The BBC quoted Kane as saying after Spurs’ 3-1 win over Brighton on Satruday.

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The England
striker opened the scoring with a curling effort in the 13th minute
before a Solly March own goal doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 24th
minute.

Yves
Bissouma’s deflected effort reduced the deficit at the hour-mark, but Kane
scored within minutes to restore Spurs’ two-goal cushion.  

The win was the North London club’s 10th in 17 games under Conte since he took over the club in early November from Nuno Esperito Santo, who was fired after just four months in charge.

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A string of
disappointing results and lackluster performances led to the Portuguese’s
firing as well as Spurs slipping down the Premier League table. But Tottenham
are now just two points off fourth place with two games in hand.

The win
over Brighton also keeps the club in contention for its first piece of
silverware in decades. Spurs last
won the FA Cup in 1991 and have not made the final since that triumph 31 years
ago.

They have
only made the semi-finals on two occasions since, in 2017 and 2018.

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“To win in
an important competition like the FA Cup is so important, it is important for
the confidence, important to get a win against a really good team,” Conte said.
“It was good, Kane scored twice. We had chances to improve the final result but
in the end I think it was fair.”