Tottenham manager Antonio Conte reveals dressing room message to young duo despite AC Milan defeat

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte had no option but to thrust the inexperienced duo of Oliver Skipp and Pape Sarr into their 1-0 defeat to AC Milan in the Champions League.

Rodrigo Bentancur is injured and ruled out for the rest of the season while the hard-working Pierre-Emile Højbjerg was suspended for the trip to Milan.

The talk ahead of the game was how the Tottenham midfield was going to hold up against seven-time champions AC Milan- with Sarr never playing in the Champions League before and Skipp never starting in the competition.

But despite the 1-0 defeat, both Sarr and Skipp left the San Siro with improved reputations and their heads held high after what was truly a strong showing and indication of what was to come in the future.

Former Manchester City youngster Brahim Daiz nodded home the only goal in the seventh minute for Milan but Sarr’s passing range with athleticism, and Skipp’s tackling and game reading meant Tottenham will be confident of turning the tie around next month in north London.

Antonio Conte who turned down the chance to send both Skipp and Sarr out on loan during the winter transfer window revealed he was very certain the duo were more than capable of producing such high level performance and only asked them to just go for it.

He told BTSPORT after the game: “We have two young players, (Oliver) Skipp and Pape Matar Sarr, their first games in the Champions League.

”We have to be good to help them overcome the emotion and we trust them and they trust us and they gave us a good performance and that is all I wanted and demanded.

Tottenham will now turn attention to the Premier League game this weekend against West Ham before they host Chelsea.