Antonio Conte explains how he’ll give Tottenham fans what they want ahead of Southampton

Tottenham have lost only twice to Southampton at the St Mary’s in the league since 2012 and Antonio Conte is determined to continue their strong hold on the Saints ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash.

The Lilywhites beat Nottingham Forest to open a six point gap on fifth place in the league last weekend, and are now looking to go on a winning streak in the league to try and finish the season on a high after exiting the FA Cup and Champions League.

Italian Manager Antonio Conte whose contract is up in the summer says the most important thing at the moment is to continue to work to finish in a Champions League spot as that can change everything around the club.

He told reporters ahead of the game at the weekend: “This season will be an important race for all the teams involved. There’s also Manchester United in this race.

“For sure it will be a good achievement to finish in Europe this season, like last season. I think in every season, to finish in the top four means you had a good season.”

Spurs snatched Champions League football from Arsenal at the tail end of last when for large parts it looked like the Gunners would land the spot but a strong end to the season meant the Italian manager delivered on his mandate.

This weekend’s opponents Southampton have won only two games all season and were again quite disappointing against Brentford last night- Conte though says games against them are quite tight and has seen enough recently to know they’ll be fighting for the points when they meet.

He added: “We lost at home and we drew 1-1 away. It’s always a difficult game for us but the first game (of the season) we played a good game. We were 1-0 down, we came back and scored four goals.

“Now they’ve changed two managers since and they’re trying to do everything to avoid relegation zone but I repeat I watched the game yesterday and against United and Chelsea. I’ve seen a team alive, not a team that wants to go and have a relegation.”

Southampton have scored the joint-fewest in the Premier League this season and have now netted just two times across their past five matches.