In charge: Antonio Conte
(Picture: Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)Antonio Conte says his Tottenham players have to understand that ambitious teams treat draws and defeats in the same way.
Spurs snatched a last-gasp draw against rivals Chelsea last weekend through Harry Kane's stoppage-time equaliser, and the result has been widely regarded as a point won, particularly given their awful record at Stamford Bridge.
Conte won five league titles in six full seasons before joining Spurs and says he is trying to teach his squad that teams competing for major honours cannot be satisfied with drawing games.
"You have to understand if the draw is a success for you or if the draw is [like] a loss," Conte told Standard Sport ahead of tomorrow's visit of Wolves.
"If you want to have ambition, you have to think only to get three points and a draw is half a loss for me. I'm trying to transfer my idea, transfer this feeling [to the players].
"Because It's important. If you want to be competitive, to have ambition to fight for something important you have to improve in many aspects. Also your character has to be strong and you have to understand very well the difference between a win, a draw and a loss. It's totally different.
"The win makes you happy, the feeling is good, the confidence goes up. When you lose, for you should have the opposite situation."
Conte is also continuing to work to bring out the "nasty" side of his squad and, for the Italian, there were surely encouraging examples of gamesmanship at Chelsea.
Cristian Romero, who will miss tomorrow's game with an adductor injury, escaped punishment by VAR Mike Dean for pulling the hair of Marc Cucurella shortly before Kane's 96th-minute leveller. Dean has since admitted he made a mistake in not recommending referee Anthony Taylor consult the pitch-side monitor.
Conte called for his side to be more "nasty" back in February and, asked if they were making progress in that regard, he said: "This is a step that I continue to ask of my players. For sure, we did a little step forward but we need to continue to complete this step.
"Because to be nasty is very important. Very important. It means that you need to feel the blood of your opponent and try in a sporting way to kill your opponent.
"Cristian is a player who's really strong physically," Conte continued. "He has no fear of anyone but for sure he has to be always really focussed to understand the situation, to try to always be better, to improve the situations he needs to improve. But I speak a lot with him, I speak a lot with my players about being strong - but always in a good way."
Conte yesterday accepted a Football Association charge of improper behaviour for his touchline spat with Thomas Tuchel after last weekend's game and is set to discover if he will face a sanction today.
The managers squared up after clashing during the post-match handshakes and an independent commission will decide whether to take further action.
Conte played down the incident and believes a touchline ban would not be merited for what he described as a "soft charge" from the FA.
"I think it's right to stay in my place [in the dugout]," he said. "For sure after this type of situation you can learn a lot but at the same time I think that for many situations I was really good to keep calm and don't have an excessive reaction in the situation."
As well as Romero, Spurs will be without Oliver Skipp, who has resumed outdoor training as he recovers from a fractured heel. Davinson Sanchez is expected to deputise for the Argentine, who has "a little problem" according to Conte, on the right of the back three, while Ivan Perisic and Yves Bissouma are pushing for their first starts for the club after impressing from the bench at Stamford Bridge.
