Antonio Conte calls for a ‘nasty’ Tottenham to ‘feel the blood’ of their rivals to become a top side

Antonio Conte wants his Tottenham side to be more "bad" and become the top side by using the Dark Arts against their opponents.

Spurs will face Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday night in what is likely to be a very different test in what looks to be Saturday's impressive 3-2 win at Manchester City.

Conte questioned his side's experience and game-management during three straight league losses before the weekend, but his performance at the Etihad was evidence of canny gamesmanship and the Dark Arts.

The head coach says his side will have to be prepared to do "everything" to kill the opposition, without crossing the line in sportsmanship behavior.

"A strong team has to be bad," Conte told Standard Sport. "During the game, you have to feel your opponent's blood! Sorry, but I have no other words to explain it.

"In my opinion, when you go into a sport, one [team] lives and the other dies. You have to be available to do everything - but in a sporting way.

"You have to know that the game doesn't end with two happy teams. One team is happy and the other is unhappy. You have to try to be a team that is happy, celebrates everyone together and then one for the whole week. There is a good atmosphere. And then the improvement is on.

"Don't forget, [with] victory comes victory, victory comes with victory. It is very important. We are talking about the mindset aspect, about the right mindset, about the winning mindset.

“Sure, this aspect we are working on and we need time and patience. But I am happy because I know with my players, when I tell them something, what I say is in their mind. goes in and doesn't go into one ear and doesn't go out the other."

Conte said the key to changing the mindset of his players was their reaction to the defeat, insisting that the atmosphere at the training ground should depend on their final result.

"The first step to change your mindset is after defeat," he said. "You have to understand that you have lost a game. The atmosphere has to be different. When you lose a game and you come back to the training ground and [it's] like, 'Okay, it's just like yesterday' But yesterday you lost!

“If we start to change the environment, to understand that the environment also depends on winning or losing – I think that is the first step to improve your mindset, to be a winner.

"Because when you know the atmosphere is different, you try to have a good atmosphere during the game the day after day or two."

Conte pointed to the example of perennial Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, who went on to beat Firth 4-1 over the weekend without a win.

He said, 'Gradually the players will have to understand this difference. “It is very evident in the top clubs. When you're in a club that won't win, what happens when they lose?

"For example, Bayern Munich. They dominated Germany this season and then they lost 4-2 in the league [at Bochum] and then they had a 1-1 draw in the Champions League [at Red Bull Salzburg] .

"I read that the players were very angry. They said, 'No. We can't continue like this. We have to be strong'. And you show that you feel that way."

Conte will be without Oliver Skip, Japhet Tanganga and Sergio Reguilon tonight, but he jokes that Harry Kane will play even if he has "one leg", despite the striker having suffered a blow to his back in his match-winning performance against City .

"He had a back injury but he has to play - if he has a leg he has to play!" Conte said. “Harry knows very well what he means to the team for his personality, for his experience. But he is good. I'm kidding, if a player gets injured I don't force him to play. I just ask you to tell the importance of the player. He's good, he's ready."

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