Heung-min Son’s hat-trick off the bench for Tottenham led to Antonio Conte remarking that all of his players will ask to be dropped in the future.
Conte made perhaps the biggest selection decision of his time in charge of Spurs by dropping the Korean winger after his goalless start to the campaign - yet he put in a stunning substitute appearance from the 59th minute against Leicester.
“For sure, to see Sonny with the hat-trick ball and the man of the match trophy was great and amazing for me and his teammates,” Conte told reporters.
“We needed this, not only Sonny. I'm happy and I repeat: this is not a problem. If we stop the problem in this way, we have to play like this in the future.
“Because all the players will want to come off the bench because they think they'll score three goals - I'm joking, of course.”
Conte explained his reasons for dropping Son and insisted the attacker was chosen for the bench regardless of his lack of form amid a busy schedule.
“With Richarlison, and Son, [Harry] Kane, Deki [Kulusevski], Lucas [Moura] and [Bryan] Gil, who is a good prospect, we have good options,” he said.
“Richarlison was on the bench, then Deki, Son today and after the international break we have 12 games in a row and I will make rotations.
“The only think I ask of the players is not to drop the level. We need always a strong team and to fight for every competition.”
