Antonio Conte explains why Tottenham Hotspur win at Crystal Palace was ‘important for the future’

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte hailed his side for claiming a ‘really important’ win at London rivals Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.

Conte’s men made the trip to Selhurst Park looking to bounce back from Sunday’s poor display in their surprise home defeat against Aston Villa and they shook off a lacklustre first-half performance to blow away the Eagles during the second 45 minutes.

England captain Harry Kane led the way with a well-taken double and there was a goal apiece for Heung-Min Son and Matt Doherty as Spurs eventually eased to three points that keeps them in touch with the Champions League places. Conte even had the luxury of rotating his squad during the second-half and he believes the introduction of a number of younger players can have benefits in the short and long-term.

He told Sky Sports: “It’s really important because we got three points and for the table it’s important because we continue to stay really close for the good position. When you don’t win, the confidence can be really down so it was really important to win away against Crystal Palace. Don’t forget we lost 3-0 here against them and it’s not easy to win here.

“To win this way, it means we played well and I am happy because we used many young players and this is important for the present and for the future.”

The Italian also had praise for forward duo Kane and Son after their goals inspired a much-improved second-half display. Conte picked out the latter and stated his belief the South Korea international ‘needs to score’ to improve his confidence as a hectic schedule lies in wait.

“I think it was good, I think we played a good game and we were well organised. Without the ball, we tried to press high to recover the ball and our strikers scored, Harry scored twice, Sonny scored and that’s really important for him because we are talking about a player that needs to score to feel confidence in himself.”

Spurs are back in action on Saturday lunchtime when they host Portsmouth in the FA Cup third round.