‘Unbelievable’: Defoe shares what he has been told about Tottenham training under Conte

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Jermain Defoe has claimed that he has heard that training at Tottenham has ‘stepped up’ under Antonio Conte, as he told Match of the Day.

The former Spurs striker shared that it is ‘unbelievable’ how Tottenham have gone from being bottom of the Premier League, in terms of distance covered, straight to the top since Conte’s arrival.

Nuno Espirito Santo was the man in the dugout before the Italian and the ex-Wolves man wasn’t seemingly even in the top five choices to replace Jose Mourinho when he was first appointed.

Given that Nuno wasn’t one of the top choices, all of that translated onto the pitch, in terms of performances, running stats and the supporters’ feelings towards their manager, at the time.

Nonetheless, this is what Defoe made of life under Conte for the Tottenham players and what he has been hearing from Hotspur Way.

“He’s a winner and he has got that mentality,” said Defoe. “The demands he must put on the players, day in and day out.

“From what I have heard, the training has stepped up and the things that they do in training.

“When you look at the distance covered before Conte (100.2km) and being bottom of the Premier League and then to first (114.4km). In such a short space of time. That’s unbelievable.

“Then sprints, from 13th (123) to eighth (134), especially in games away from home and you want to get out of your half, get bodies forward, then you are going to need that. But, in terms of distance covered, it’s unbelievable.”

It just seems like with Spurs that every defeat they now take will be met with a volume of emotions.

Conte has seemingly suggested that there is a method to his previous outbursts, as he was more upbeat after they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Middlesbrough on Tuesday night.

Either way, the pressure is just ramping up on this Spurs side, especially as the Champions League places are slipping away from them.

Their next stop is a clash against Everton and a certain Frank Lampard, who has Dele Alli in his ranks.