Antonio Conte backtracks on ‘impossible’ talk as he picks out Tottenham’s Mr Reliable

Antonio Conte says he still has his eye on fourth place and his Tottenham side are “fighting” as he paid tribute to one “reliable” Spurs man in the 2-0 win over Brighton.

Only last month Conte had ruled out a top-four finish after three defeats on the spin against Chelsea, Southampton and Wolves. In fact the downbeat Italian said it was “impossible” to qualify in the Premier League’s top four. But fast forward a month and Spurs are right in the hint after a routine win on the south coast.

Harry Kane created a slice of Premier League history as he helped Tottenham to a 2-0 win at free-falling Brighton.

After Cristian Romero had put Tottenham in front before the break, Kane entered the record books just before the hour by scoring his 95th goal away from home – more than any other player.

He also moved above Frank Lampard in the list of all-time scorers, going into fifth with 178 goals and more records are surely around the corner given the England’s captain devastating prowess.

It was his seventh strike in six Premier League games and helped keep Spurs in the race for the top four, though they remain big outsiders as they are still behind Arsenal, who have two games in hand.

It was a display which Conte was more than happy with.

Conte said: “I think it was a good performance. The team is having a good performance.

“In the last period I’m seeing good improvement. In the last few games we’ve scored a lot of goals.

“It means that we are improving and we are trying to go in another step to try to be very close at the top of the table. It’s right to have ambition and I put ambition to my players.

“It’s a difficult target. To reach fourth place is not simple but I feel we are ready to fight in every game. It happens that you can