Conte: ‘Fatigued’ Tottenham disappointed with Saints stalemate

Antonio Conte was left frustrated after Tottenham failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage in the 1-1 Premier League draw with Southampton.

Spurs were forced to settle for a share of the spoils at St Mary’s, where Harry Kane equalised with a penalty late in the first half after James Ward-Prowse opening the scoring.

The visitors played the entire second half against 10 men after Mohammed Salisu was dismissed just before the break for a second bookable offence.

But despite enjoying over three-quarters of the possession and registering 11 shots on target, Tottenham were unable to secure all three points.

The draw – which came just two days after a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace – saw Conte become the first Tottenham boss to go unbeaten in his opening seven league games at the helm.

Nevertheless, the former Chelsea and Inter coach expected more from his players.

“We have to be disappointed because you have to exploit the situation against 10 men,” he said.

“They defended very well. To find space, it wasn’t easy. 

“At the same time, we can do much better – to move the ball more quickly and find the one we want. 

“To play after 48 hours is not easy because you need to recover from the last game. 

“Maybe, the fatigue caused bad decisions, especially when we arrived in their box. It’s not easy to take a good result in this stadium. In the end, we could do better.”

Defender Eric Dier concurred, insisting that Tottenham had no excuses for their inability to see off stubborn Saints.

“After they went down to 10 men, we’ve got to win the game and we couldn’t do that,” he added.

“They defended very well and fought for each other, but that doesn’t matter from our side of it. 

“We have to be able to break them down. We weren’t good enough at doing that.”