Tottenham are preparing for their return to the Champions League, which will begin in N17 on Wednesday. Spurs got to the final of the European competition in the 2018/19 season, but couldn't get over the final hurdle.
The Lilywhites have started well in the Premier League this year and Antonio Conte will hope his side can replicate these results in Europe. Tottenham's first opponents are Marseille and it will be a good chance for the Italian to make rotations he sees fit and a chance for some players to impress.
On Tuesday, Spurs put on an open training session for the media, which football.london's Tottenham writer Emma de Duve attended. The Lilywhites began their session indoors, doing their usual stretches and some balance work, before coming outside.
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The outdoor part of the session started with a warm up, before a group passing drill, excluding Brandon Austin and Fraser Forster, who were doing some separate goalkeeper training. The whole team took part in the rondo, with three players defending, as the team passed around and across the circle.
Ahead of Wednesday's clash, football.london takes a look at what was spotted during the session
Squad latest
Conte made five changes for Fulham, from the team that started in the 1-1 draw against West Ham. This saw the return of Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur, but didn't involve Lucas Moura or Bryan Gil, due to injuries.
During Tuesday's session, the Spaniard was part of the training with the squad and the only player missing seemed to be Moura and Conte gave an injury update in his press conference. "Moura is not available, still not available," he said.
"I think tomorrow he starts to have a training session on the pitch. He has this inflammation in his tendon and I hope to recover him very soon because especially up front we need him."
Eric Dier was the last player to finish in the indoor part of the session, seeming to do some extra exercises. The reason for this isn't clear, but it didn't seem as if any of the squad were carrying injuries, during the session.
Popular Pape Matar Sarr
Sarr is yet to make his Premier League debut and has only made the bench on two occasions for Tottenham, so far this season. However in training, he showed how well he already gets on with his teammates.
When the players first came out to train, Djed Spence was seen chasing Sarr, with the duo laughing and joking around. Whilst the team were warming up and running up and down the field, the Senegalese international was then seen joking around with both Son Heung-min and Hugo Lloris.
The 19-year-old seemed in good spirits and clearly gets on with his new teammates, even if he isn't getting the game time on the field.
Eric Dier distraction
Dier was one of the last out for the session, followed by Japhet Tanganga and the two were also seen joking around during training. When the 23-year-old was one of the defenders in the middle of the passing drill, Dier repeatedly would say: "Go on Japh, come on Japh".
The 28-year-old seemed to be joking around, saying it in both an encouraging but also a distracting way. Once Tanganga's turn in the middle was over, he turned to Dier and you could see the jokey annoyance on his face.
Training punishment
The passing drill during Tottenham training was getting the team to not only pass quickly, but also accurately. Gianluca Conte was counting as the Spurs side passed around the circle and if they managed 30 passes without the defenders touching the ball, there would be a punishment for the defenders.
The three defending players in the middle would have to do press-ups on the ground, before swapping out with their teammates. Tanganga, Ben Davies, Matt Doherty, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Clement Lenglet were all part of the losing defenders during the drill and got straight to the ground to complete their punishment.
Son Heung-min in good spirits
Everyone seemed relatively happy and in good spirits during the training session, including Son. The South Korean has had a tough start to the season, not producing the performances Spurs fans have become used to.
However he produced a brighter display on Saturday, in the 2-1 win against Fulham, but is still waiting for his first goal of the season. After the recent match, Conte was asked if he was pleased with Son's performance, despite being unlucky with his chances.
"This is not only for Sonny (in the matches), but also the training sessions. We have Fraser [Forster] that sometimes he made a fantastic save to him in the training session and sometimes he is struggling to score but this is a period," he admitted.
"I continue to tell you I am not worried because when I see this type of performance from my players, Sonny included, I am not worried. I know they are going to score many goals with these strikers."
Another positive is that the winger still seems to be in high spirits. Son was one of the only players to acknowledge the media as he came out for training.
During the session he shouted "weeee" as he ran up the pitch. The 30-year-old was joking around with Sarr and Emerson Royal and also got involved with egging Tanganga on, during the passing drill.
Overall it looked like a good balance in training of working hard but also highlighting the team morale and hopefully preparing well for their first Champions League win of the season.
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