Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has, on Sunday evening, provided explanations for the respective absences of Eric Dier and Sergio Reguilon from the club’s matchday squad to face Morecambe.

Kane amongst the goals

The Lilywhites of course kicked their FA Cup campaign into gear a short time ago.

After seeing the club’s Carabao Cup hopes dealt a hefty blow in a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea in midweek, Conte and co. welcomed League One outfit Morecambe to north London, no doubt hopeful of a comfortable return to winning ways.

And though, when all was said and done, Spurs did march on to the competition’s 4th round, the capital outfit, in trademark fashion, made matters as difficult as possible for themselves.

With a full 74 minutes on the clock at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the hosts trailed by a goal to nil, owing to Anthony O’Connor’s close-range finish:

Conte, in turn, was left with little choice but to turn to his bench late in proceedings, introducing the likes of Lucas Moura and Harry Kane to the fray.

And, ultimately, such added quality proved the difference, as Harry Winks’ equaliser was followed by strikes from both Lucas and Kane, to round out a 3-1 comeback triumph.

‘Nothing serious…’

As alluded to above, though, post-match, it was not the names of those to have made the difference for Tottenham on Sunday, but instead two to have missed out, which took centre stage in Antonio Conte’s press conference.

The players in question? Eric Dier and Sergio Reguilon.

Both Dier and Reguilon, of course key members of Conte’s first-team setup, were surprise absentees from the club’s matchday squad to face Morecambe.

In turn, the Lilywhites’ boss, post-match, was unsurprisingly asked for an explanation for the two defenders missing out this afternoon.

And Conte went on to reveal that Dier has picked up an injury, albeit one which he hopes will prove to be ‘nothing serious’, whilst Reguilon was handed a rest amid a bout of fatigue:

 

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