Spurs making progress but Conte still has a ‘big job’ on his hands – Reuters

Dec 27 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur have stretched their unbeaten Premier League run under new manager Antonio Conte to six games and moved up to fifth but the Italian is reluctant to make any comparisons with the Chelsea side he guided to the 2016-17 Premier League title.

Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min scored as Spurs beat Crystal Palace 3-0 on Sunday, with the London side looking more settled under Conte, who took over in November after Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked after a poor run of form.

When asked if Spurs were building momentum in a similar fashion to his title-winning Chelsea team, Conte said: "No, I think it's different.

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"I don't like to compare different situations. I remember very well I started the season (2016-17) and when you start the season you have the possibility to work with your players and to also make decisions about your players. This is different."

While there are signs of improvement, Conte said they are far from the finished article.

"For sure we have to continue to improve, to exploit the confidence that is going to improve us. We know very well, I know very well, we have a big job to do.

"It's good to get three points, to score three goals with your three strikers. It's good to keep another clean sheet."

Tottenham are on 29 points, six behind Arsenal in fourth but having played three games fewer.

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Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Spurs making progress but Conte still has a 'big job' on his hands - Reuters