Conte urges Spurs to strengthen in January transfer window

Antonio Conte has insisted Tottenham Hotspur are well aware of the need to bring in new players during the January transfer window if the club are to remain competitive in the Premier League.

Spurs are at home to Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Wednesday, a match where a victory for the London team will send them into the last 16 of Europe's elite club football tournament.

But they go into the game following successive defeats by Manchester United and Newcastle that have left the club third in the Premier League table, five points adrift of leaders and arch-rivals Arsenal.

Tottenham also face a growing injury list that has placed a question mark over their ability to sustain a bid for a top-four finish without fresh reinforcements during the next transfer window.

"I think the club understand very well the importance of bringing in important players, good players, in January," Spurs manager Conte told a pre-match press conference on Tuesday. "I'm not the person who has to explain this to my club."

The Italian added: "I repeat we have to take this big achievement of going to the next round tomorrow and take this opportunity to do it.

"We want to finish in the best possible way before the World Cup. My priority now is not January but to finish in the best possible way before the World Cup."

Conte, 53, has spoken in recent weeks about the path Tottenham are on to becoming a genuine contender for the Premier League title -- Spurs were last crowned champions of England back in 1961 -- and a force in Europe as well.

But he was coy when it was suggested to him that this season could be a breakthrough campaign for Tottenham given both Chelsea and Manchester United are under new managers in Graham Potter and