Tottenham's preparations for the second part of the Premier League season will step up a gear on Friday afternoon with a friendly against Motherwell on the agenda. The Scottish side will travel to Spurs' Hotspur Way training base for the behind-closed-doors match, which kicks off at 1pm.
Last in action almost one month ago with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Leeds United in N17, the players went their separate ways after the clash with 11 of the squad heading off to Qatar for the World Cup and another three taking part in international friendlies. Those not involved in international action had a mid-season break before returning to training last Monday.
Going through a number of fitness tests to begin with like the squad would usually do on the first day of pre-season, Spurs' preparations have stepped up and now the focus is on ball work after their initial fitness checks. Friday's match against Motherwell will hand them the opportunity to put all that into practice and also give Conte a chance to cast his eye over a number of the current first-team squad and some academy players.
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So what is the strongest team he can field against the Steelmen providing of course that everyone is fit? football.london takes a look.
With Hugo Lloris still at the World Cup, Fraser Forster will likely start in goal ahead of Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman. Opportunities could be there for the young shot-stoppers, however, if the boss rotates his team in the second half.
The back three may consist of Davinson Sanchez, Clement Lenglet and Japhet Tanganga unless the Italian wants to mix and match and select some academy players in his starting XI. As Sanchez is more comfortable playing on the right of the back three, Tanganga could potentially find himself on the left with Lenglet continuing in the middle.
Tottenham have all three right wing-backs available for the friendly, with Ryan Sessegnon the only option on the opposite flank as Ivan Perisic is still away at the World Cup. Sessegnon was spotted running at Hotspur Way in the latest batch of training photos but it's unclear as to where he is with his fitness right now as he was absent for the Leeds match through injury.
If Sessegnon is not in a position to start, Doherty may operate from the left instead as he has previously played there on a couple of occasions for Conte. That may mean it is between Emerson and Spence on the right, with Tottenham fans desperate to see more of the latter over the next few weeks after only four appearances for the club so far.
As Lucas Moura didn't appear to be in the training footage released by the club, a three-man midfield may be the way to go due to limited options in attack. That may benefit Harvey White who is desperate for minutes, with Oliver Skipp and Yves Bissouma also needing the game time to impress Conte.
If Lucas, who admitted last month that he had been playing through the pain of a heel injury, is not able to feature, Dejan Kulusevski and Bryan Gil could form a front two unless Conte persists with his 3-4-3 formation and brings in an academy star at the expense of an extra midfielder.
With the focus very much on fitness and players getting minutes in the legs, Conte could quite easily look to ease them in and form an XI from his first-team squad and academy stars. He does have enough players if he wants to base it solely on those in the first-team squad, however.
Strongest Tottenham team vs Motherwell: Forster; Sanchez, Lenglet, Tanganga; Emerson, Skipp, Bissouma, White, Sessegnon; Kulusevski, Bryan
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