Winks admits Spurs career was 'dead and buried' before Conte's arrival
Harry Winks admits his Tottenham career was ‘dead and buried’ before Antonio Conte’s arrival after being frozen out by Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo… and says the Italian has ‘given me confidence again’
- Tottenham’s Harry Winks has hailed Antonio Conte for trusting faith in him
- He looked certain to leave Spurs but he has gained regular action under Conte
- The midfielder said he was ‘dead and buried’ before the Italian lifted his spirits
- He admitted the team were ‘suffocated’ by Southampton in their 3-2 home loss
Harry Winks has admitted his Tottenham career had a ‘slim chance’ of succeeding until Antonio Conte came to the club.
The 26-year-old, who came through the ranks at Spurs having joined when he was five, was ready to leave his boyhood club after being frozen out under Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo.
But the Italian has given Winks a chance in midfield and announced early on into his stay that Winks would be staying with the club in January.
Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks has hailed Antonio Conte for putting his trust in him
The England international has played regular minutes under the Italian since his arrival
He has started the last six games and is enjoying life at Spurs again.
‘The manager’s come in and given me a chance, given me confidence again,’ he said, having played 90 minutes in Spurs’ 3-2 loss to Southampton on Wednesday.
‘Every game I play, every training session I have that hunger to try to impress him and do everything I can to try to improve.
‘Like I said before, my career at Tottenham was probably dead and buried but he’s come in and given me an opportunity to show myself and prove myself.
‘And for that, every time I get an opportunity I really want to impress the manager and show myself and repay that faith he’s shown in me and put it back to me.
Winks was cast aside under the turbulent reigns of Jose Mourinho (R) and Nuno Espirito Santo
‘I wouldn’t say it was completely dead and buried, but chances at Tottenham were looking slim. I wasn’t getting opportunities and it might have looked like I would need to leave the club.
‘But as I said, the new manager’s come in and given everyone an equal opportunity, which is all I wanted under the last two managers.
‘And now it’s down to me to take that. So I wouldn’t say it was as strong as that but it was looking slim because the facts were that I wasn’t playing as much as I wanted to.’
Winks was part of the side that went down to a damaging 3-2 loss to Southampton on Wednesday, who scored two goals in two minutes late on to earn a deserved three points.
He played the full 90 minutes in Tottenham’s 3-2 loss to Southampton and admitted the team were poor and allowed the visitors to ‘suffocate’ them
Spurs missed the chance to move within a point of the top four with games in hand as a Jan Bednarek own goal and a Son Heung-min effort either side of Armando Broja’s strike had put Spurs in a winning position until Mohamed Elyounoussi and Che Adams headed home quickfire James Ward-Prowse crosses.
‘It was a poor performance and result,’ Winks added. ‘When we’re not playing well but leading, we need to find a way of not conceding.
‘I wouldn’t say it was a wake up call. We haven’t been getting ahead of ourselves. We know it’s a process.
‘We’re playing in the Premier League against top opposition. They’re a top side, they’re strong and aggressive and we have to be at our best to beat them.
‘Unfortunately we were poor. We let them play, we let them suffocate us and it wasn’t a good enough performance.’
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