Tottenham boss Conte: My summer signings know they must fight for place | OneFootball

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte says his new signings must fight for their place.

Spurs began the campaign with a 4-1 win over Southampton, with five of their six summer additions on the bench and Richarlison suspended.

Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma and Clement Lenglet all came off the bench in the second half, while Djed Spence and Fraser Forster were unused substitutes. Asked about not starting his new players, Conte said they would have to earn their place in the team.

"I think I used common sense because in this moment we are starting the new season and the old players reached a big achievement last season to get a place in Champions League," the head coach said.

"In the last 10 games I think we played really well and we had fantastic results. My message was very clear that I trust a lot in the old players and in this moment they are more reliable than the new players because they need to continue to work with us and continue to implement football knowledge.

"With the old players, I am in a step forward. For this reason I prefer to count on the start on the older players but I think it was right after this game and the final result. At the same time I really enjoy and I am really happy because we have new signings that are going into our process and for sure they will help us to improve.

"But they have to know they have to fight and they have to give me the possibility to make rotations."

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