Antonio previews Middlesbrough: “In England, every game is difficult”
Mon 28 February 2022, 18:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Antonio Conte doesn’t have to turn the clock back too far when he talks about Middlesbrough’s potential threat ahead of our FA Cup fifth round tie at the Riverside on Tuesday night (7.55pm).
Chris Wilder’s team have already produced one of the best performances of this season’s competition by beating Manchester United at Old Trafford in round four, where they came from a goal behind to dominate the second half, equalise and then win on penalties.
We have recent FA Cup history with the Teesiders as well - we drew at the Riverside in the third round as recently as January, 2020, before winning the replay at home.
Currently just outside the play-off places in eighth in the Championship, Middlesbrough have lost just four of his 18 matches in all competitions since Wilder took over from Neil Warnock in November, two of which have come in the last three matches. That includes a spell of seven wins in eight from November-January and FA Cup wins against Mansfield and United away to reach the fifth round.
“You know very well that in England, every game is difficult, especially in this competition when you play away against Middlesbrough, who are having a good season in the Championship,” said Antonio on Monday.
“Middlesbrough are a good team. When you are able to win against Manchester United - not to forget, Middlesbrough eliminated United from this competition, and they are one of the best teams in this league - it means they have important value. For this reason, it will be very important not to underestimate our opponent and the difficulty of this game.”
We travel to Teeside on the back of a fine 4-0 win at Leeds on Saturday, the third match of a rollercoaster week on the road in the Premier League that saw us win at Manchester City but then lose at Burnley before getting back on track at Elland Road.
Asked if the display at Leeds had reinstalled confidence, Antonio told us: “Our performance (at Leeds) was good, but don’t forget against City it was the same, and before the game against Burnley, we arrived with great confidence and you know very well what happened.
“We have to learn about this type of situation. Yes, we have to be confident because we’re in a good moment of form, but at the same time we have to fight to go through to the next round.
“We have to prepare seriously for this game, because we want to go through. The mentality has to be the same every time. The players have to know that every game has to be a fight, and we have to pay great attention, focus, and not under evaluate the opponent.
“We have to fight a lot in every game to win. For sure, we have to show great desire, great will to win our duels, win second balls and play attractive football but, at the same time, play with great character, great personality, great passion.”
