Ryan Sessegnon has admitted that Antonio Conte did not say anything to him in the aftermath of his red card in Tottenham's embarrassing 2-1 Europa Conference League defeat against NS Mura. Missing a lot of football in the opening few months of the season through injury, the 21-year-old was handed a huge opportunity to impress in only the head coach's fourth game in charge of Spurs.
Starting at left wing-back, Sessegnon was given his marching orders after only 31 minutes after picking up two yellow cards in the space of 17 minutes. Looking like he had blown a huge opportunity to really give his new boss something to think about, it was the following day when Conte finally hard words with his player.
"I kind of thought to myself I'd messed my chance up because I thought 'OK, it's my first start I want to impress' but I wasn't really in the game," said Sessegnon in an exclusive interview with ESPN. "He [Conte] didn't say anything to me directly afterwards. I think it was the next day, we watched the game back and he was saying 'you didn't even touch the ball [after the first yellow card] and in that time you got a red card.' It was quite bad."
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He added: "There have been times when we haven't been good enough and he has let us know that in the changing room. He tells the truth. He says what he thinks to our faces and he'll say the same in front of the cameras as well. That's just how he is."
Tottenham have made big strides under the head coach in recent months after jumping into the final Champions League place with seven games of the season remaining. Conte's work on the training ground is paying off, with Sessegnon revealing that they are in the tactics room every day as they prepare for games.
"When you have someone who is so passionate about the game, it rubs off on you. He's a perfectionist. He wants to be the best and he is one of the best so everything you do you want to do it to the best of your ability," he said. "We're in the tactics room every day trying to better ourselves, learn about the opponents more as well. It is more about the way we can improve and I think the team has taken great steps forward."
Prior to sustaining a hamstring injury in the 5-0 win over Everton, Sessegnon was a regular in the Tottenham first team and had made six successive starts as he nudged ahead of Sergio Reguilon. Returning to the squad last weekend as Spurs hit Aston Villa for four, the player knows he needs to manage himself better if he is to avoid picking up further injury issues.
"Definitely it is something that I have to manage because I am at a stage where... coming through when I was a bit younger at Fulham, I had no injuries. And then I'm at Spurs now and I've had a few problems but as I'm getting older, I need to start managing the intensity of training, the way I train," he explained.
"Obviously under Conte, the training is intense anyway but it is about being a bit more mature and smart in certain sessions here and there, not going 100% -- that's just my nature and the way I play. It is just knowing your body, being smart and trying to be available every game. So going forward I'm trying to learn these things."
