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Football London
Football London
Sport
Emma de Duve

Matt Doherty makes Eric Dier admission on relationship with Antonio Conte at Tottenham

Ben Davies and Matt Doherty have been revealing all about their life and interests on and off the pitch, on BBC Sport's MOTDx. The Tottenham duo had a pack of cards with various questions about themselves and their teammates.

Both players have seen a major improvement in their performances, since Antonio Conte's arrival. Doherty faced a lot of criticism at the start of the season and was failing to make an impact at right-back.

The Irishman then moved to play as a right wing-back, after the Italian's arrival, a position he has had a lot of experience in. The defender would have the odd good performance but was struggling to keep that up consistently.

READ MORE: Antonio Conte, Eric Dier and Hugo Lloris agree on Tottenham's big failing vs Brighton

However much like a number of the Spurs side, Doherty's displays were improving and were kept up week by week, before the challenge from Matty Cash in the 4-0 victory at Villa Park ended his season prematurely. Davies has also stepped up under Conte, on the left of the back three.

The Welshman was another player who faced backlash at the beginning of the season but has now become a strong defender alongside Eric Dier and Cristian Romero and even gets up the field when he has the opportunity. The duo were asked questions about their inspirations, films, music and more.

Davies was asked the one piece of advice he had always followed, to which he replied, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." This hard work is something both players have clearly been putting in off the pitch, to help their performance on it.

Doherty then had a little dig at his fellow Spurs defender when Davies was asked what animal he would be. The Irishman first suggested a crocodile but the 28-year-old disagreed, "Yeah but I'm a nice guy, I'm not going to be a crocodile."

The 30-year-old then suggested a cheetah so that Davies could "see how it feels to be fast" to which they both laughed, before settling on a bear as the answer. Doherty was then asked who the biggest teacher's pet was in the team.

Without hesitation, the defender answered Dier. The 28-year-old is one of Spurs' key leaders on the pitch and his multilingual abilities help break the language barrier with the likes of Romero.

The English defender is often seen taking instructions from Conte on the sideline and is arguably one of Tottenham's most improved players this season. Davies laughed when Doherty quickly said Dier's name and didn't seem to disagree, as the duo moved on to the next question.

The video showed the good friendship the defenders have, as they joked around about haircuts and magazine covers. Despite Saturday's result, recent matches and videos off the pitch have shown the high spirits the Tottenham squad are in.

Conte will hope this can continue in the final stretch of the season and help create cohesive performances on the pitch. The Lilywhites currently sit fourth in the league, with the battle for a spot in the top four ongoing and Spurs have six games to keep their place and secure Champions League football for next season.

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