Antonio Conte: Tottenham boss laughs off title contenders tag after limp Manchester United defeat

Spurs arrived at Old Trafford on the back of their best start to a Premier League season and could have closed the gap at the top to one point with victory, but they put in a listless display as their hosts dominated.

Goals from Fred and Bruno Fernandes fired United to a hugely impressive win, with the margin of victory only kept respectable by the heroics of Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal.

After the game, Conte insisted his side needed time before they were ready to challenge at the top.

“Sometimes I listen that we are title contenders,” the Italian said, laughing.

“I think we need time. In only 10 months, 11 months, you can’t go from ninth place to title contenders, especially when you finish 20 points less than the leaders in England.”

Despite sitting third in the table, Spurs have struggled in clashes against their main rivals this season.

They were fortunate to escape with a 2-2 draw with Chelsea in August and were comprehensively beaten 3-1 by Arsenal in the north London derby earlier in October.

“For sure not a good game for us but I have to be honest, especially with my players, this was not the first time for us this season [failing to impress against a big team],” said Conte.

“Despite the table being good for us, every time we play a high level game we struggle.

“We struggled against Chelsea because we drew after 92 minutes but Chelsea dominated the game and with Arsenal we lost and today against United we lost.

“For sure when the level is high, we are going to struggle. This means we have to continue to work to try to improve, to work on the pitch and to work outside the pitch.

“We can improve, we need to continue to work and for sure it is right with the club also to analyse very well why when we are going to play this type of game where the level is very high we are struggling.”

Spurs will look to bounce back from defeat against Newcastle United on Sunday.