Antonio Conte has taken Tottenham from Spursy to steely

For all of Antonio Conte’s histrionics, he also brings a steely-eyed ruthlessness to Tottenham’s Champions League charge that is the polar opposite to being ‘Spursy’.

A fourth consecutive win, emphatic in the end after Hugo Lloris’ first-half heroics, has put them in pole position for the top four with rivals Arsenal and Manchester United losing.

That looked impossible when the Italian took over with Spurs in ninth, but there is no victory parade being planned yet with this manager in charge.

‘We need to be ice cold. Ready to go again,’ said Saturday’s hat-trick hero Son Heung-min, who has scored eight goals in his last eight games.

‘I don’t want to feel over the moon. I want to be really cool and calm because there are still a lot of games to play. Next Saturday we start from zero again.

‘We can be better than this but we showed strong personality against Aston Villa. Some teams would have lost in this situation.’

The pragmatism will be welcomed by Tottenham fans aware of their club’s reputation of flattering to deceive.

Though they are three points ahead of Arsenal with a superior goal difference, the Gunners still have a game in hand and next month’s rearranged north London derby is still to come.

Conte is pleased to have the rare luxury of a full week to prepare for Spurs’ next test against Brighton.

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