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Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte insists he would be “crazy” to consider dropping Son Heung-min amid suggestions of fatigue and a drop in form.
Spurs sit eighth in the Premier League ahead of a clash at Brighton and Hove Albion, following a 3-2 defeat at fellow top-four contenders Manchester United that leaves them six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.
Conte’s north London rivals have also played a game less, while Spurs have lost five of their last eight Premier League games (W3) – as many as they had in their previous 20 in the competition (W12 D3).
Son has been on target in his side’s last two wins, a 5-0 thrashing of Everton coupled with a 4-0 hammering of Leeds United, yet there remain questions over the South Korea international’s form.
Since a four-game scoring run in the league across December, Son has found the net three times in nine top-flight outings – taking his tally 11 goals in 24 games this season, along with five assists.
Those returns are far from underwhelming but Conte was forced to defend his forward at his pre-match news conference after being pressed on Son’s fitness levels and performances.
“For me, Sonny is an important player that can change a result at the end of a game.” Conte told reporters. “It can happen that a player’s form goes from the best to a period that is not so well.
“I repeat, because we are talking about a player that plays in every game. He is playing well, it doesn’t depend on if a player scores a goal or not, the performance is the total game.
“Sonny is a player that in my mind fits my ideas, and also with the commitment he shows, he has to start and I don’t ever have any idea to drop him – it doesn’t happen, I’m not crazy to do something like this.”
Conte will be hoping his star duo Harry Kane and Son can combine to down Graham Potter’s Brighton in Wednesday’s Premier League contest.
The pair have linked up a Premier League record 37 times since Son arrived from Bayer Leverkusen in August 2015, with 20 of those combinations coming on the road in the English top flight.
Whether Son can get in on the act once more at Brighton remains to be seen, but Kane could become the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer in away games with a strike at the Amex Stadium – currently sitting on 94 goals in 138 outings.
