Spurs boss Antonio Conte praises Oliver Skipp and Pape Sarr after Milan loss – ‘Trust in them justified’

The performances from Oliver Skipp and Pape Sarr have made Antonio Conte “more relaxed” despite Tottenham’s defeat to AC Milan in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last 16 match.

Conte opted to start youngsters Sarr and Skipp in midfield, and the Italian manager waxed lyrical about their quality.

“Don’t forget that now we are with three midfielders, and we maybe have to continue for the rest of the season with these three midfielders,” he continued, referring to the injuries of Rodrigo Bentacur and Yves Bissouma.

“These performances from Skippy and Sarr make me more relaxed.”

On the match itself, Conte said: “I think it was better today, high intensity and I think we played against a good team. Don’t forget, Milan won the league last season in Italy. To concede that first goal, we can do much better.

“We concede a goal and then we try to create a situation to score but Milan defended very well. We had chances to score but in the end we are talking about a defeat.”

Despite the loss, Conte is prepared to take on Milan in the second leg, and hopes that the crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will help push the team over the line: “For qualification, you have to play two games.

“It is the first game away and the atmosphere was fantastic. I know the San Siro, and I know the difficulty to play in this atmosphere.

“In the second game, we have to play at our stadium and our fans will create the atmosphere to help us overcome the Milan obstacle.”

Skipp also spoke to BT Sport, saying: “I enjoyed every minute of it, not the result we wanted but there is a second leg to come and we are right in the game so we will take the positives. Nice to make my debut, from the start anyway, playing in the Champions League is what you dream of as a kid.

“It wasn’t the best start. I think after 10 minutes, it was a goal we didn’t need to concede. Neither side created too many chances I feel, but there’s a second leg and something to come back from.”

The 22-year-old also said that while he is happy that Conte trusted him and Sarr to start in such an important match, he would have preferred to walk away with more: “I think we would have delivered with a win, but me and Pape [Sarr] did well and it’s nice to have the manager’s trust. Hopefully we repaid it.

“There were a couple of times when they were dangerous on the counter attack, threats from forward runners. We had loads of set-pieces into the box and created chances.

“It’s only the first leg, we’re still in it, and we know with our fans that we can make it a dangerous tie at home.”

Milan manager Stefano Pioli also spoke after the game, saying: “It wasn’t hard to prepare this game tactically, with all the duels, but I am very happy with how my players performed.

“We could have scored a second goal – we had some clear chances. I am definitely happy with the performance but it’s only the first leg and the next game will be surely more difficult.”