Fabio Paratici's January transfer window risk causing Antonio Conte problems at Tottenham

Tottenham lost 3-2 to Southampton on Wednesday and their lack of squad depth became even clearer, as they failed to keep the lead they had twice during the match.

There were defensive mistakes which led to the Saints' two goals in two minutes but there was also, yet again, a lack of composure and creativity in the middle of the pitch for large spells of the game.

One reason for this could be the players that made the move away from N17 during the January transfer window, which saw four academy players and four first team players leave north London.

Antonio Conte had requested a right wing-back, striker and central midfielder during the winter window but Fabio Paratici only fulfilled the latter.

Dele Alli was the only first team player who made the permanent move during the January window, now playing under Frank Lampard at Everton.

Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Bryan Gil all made temporary exits as they have been loaned out to Lyon, Villarreal and Valencia respectively.

Although none of the aforementioned players were getting regular game time or performing consistently well when given the opportunity under Conte, the defeat against Ralph Hassenhuttl's side clearly showed the missing part for Spurs.

Oliver Skipp was unavailable on Wednesday due to his recent injury, which meant Pierre Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Winks were the duo who occupied the two midfield spaces to start the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Both midfielders had moments of shaky play, being dispossessed a number of times and some poor passing, failing to add any creativity for the Spurs attackers.

On the hour mark, Rodrigo Bentancur made his Premier League debut for the Italian and replaced the Dane.

It took just minutes for the new