Antonio Conte's Djed Spence decision, his Matt Doherty hint and why he loves Richarlison

Antonio Conte is not a man who suffers defeats gladly but on this occasion he was strangely content as Tottenham's pre-season matches came to a close in Israel.

He was stood in a corridor of the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa, it was gone midnight so technically the Italian was celebrating his 53rd birthday. He could have been deflated after Spurs' defeat to Jose Mourinho's Roma.

He wasn't. Conte has grumbled about pre-season tours around the world before at previous clubs and the effect they have had on his players in the early weeks of the campaign. However, such is the belief in him at Spurs, he has been allowed to pull the strings at the club this summer, giving very specific instructions down to the smallest details of the trips abroad and getting what he wants on and off the pitch, aided by Fabio Paratici's knowledge of working the boardroom and creating an environment for success.

Every word Antonio Conte said on Djed Spence and what he expects from Perisic and Doherty

Conte's two simple pre-season needs were to work his players hard on the training pitches, with as many new signings in place as possible, and to face opponents who would push them physically to prepare them quickly for the coming Premier League season.

The final performance on Saturday evening was the least impressive of the four matches Spurs have taken on of England and they came up against a Roma side playing in the battling Mourinho way, which proved enough to take the single goal win.

Yet as a fitness tool it did its job with four players getting the entire 90 minutes under their belt and some of those who went off were clearly blowing hard after their exertions. There were positives in the performances of Ivan Perisic and Clement Lenglet, even