Antonio Conte not concerned Spurs players will be distracted by World Cup

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte is not worried about the desire of his players or the possibility of them being distracted during the first half of the season with the World Cup only a matter of months away.

Spurs begin their Premier League campaign on Saturday at home to Southampton, but a break will occur during November and December with international football set to take centre stage.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar was moved from its traditional summer slot due to the scorching heat of the country and will now take place in winter, but the former Italy boss has no concerns it will impact his squad.

Asked if players could save themselves due to fears of an injury, Conte insisted: “Honestly, I don’t care about it.

“I was a player. When you go to play a game and you want to win, you don’t think if you could be injured or you risk an injury and don’t play in the World Cup.

“Honestly, the players are really focused to go step by step and to play game by game. For us, I repeat, we have three important trophies in England and then to play an important competition in the Champions League.

“I know my players, their desire and their will, and also what we did to reach this achievement. Honestly, I’m not worried about this situation.”

Conte admitted this season will pose an unknown for all clubs and managers and believes it has resulted in increased transfer activity this summer by top-flight teams.

The Premier League will stop after the weekend of November 12 and not resume until Boxing Day, only a week after the World Cup final.

“The problems are for all the teams. The same problems for Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, (Man) United, for us, Arsenal, West Ham and Nottingham Forest, the last team to go Premier League,” the