Antonio Conte speaks ...
“We know the difficulty of playing Villa away,” he tells the BBC. “This stadium had a great atmosphere and I want to thank our fans because they were not in the same number but they pushed us from the start to the end - so to give them this type of satisfaction is great for us.
“We work to improve the players but also to make our fans satisfied about their team and that happened today. We are pleased - not an easy game but we showed resilience in the first half when Villa tried to push a lot and put a lot of pressure on us. Every time we tried to play the ball and have a chance we did score.”
On his team’s resilience in the face of Villa’s first half pressure. “To be resilient is important if we want to be a top team,” he says. “In every game there are moments when the opponent can create difficulty and if we are not strong you will never win something or do something important.
“We are going in this aspect, I’m very happy because I have a group of players who want to show me that they will improve in many aspects. When you have this you have to be happy to work with them and to try to do something important at the end of the season. Seven games to go and we are showing that we are deserving to stay in the race for a place in the Champions League.”
Steven Gerrard speaks ...
“It’s tough - the scoreline is harsh on us, but it’s the reality and we have to accept that,” he tells the BBC. “I have to accept it - I’m responsible. The story of the game certainly wasn’t a 4-0 game.
“It’s the first time in football I’ve gone off at half-time 1-0 down and been really happy and proud, we were magnificent. We didn’t take our chances but at half-time I said if we can continue this I have no doubt we get back into the game. The second half it flipped, Spurs’ quality players made it about our backline and they punished us really heavily.”
