Nuno confident Spurs can still qualify despite defeat

Vitesse 1 Tottenham 0

TOTTENHAM boss Nuno Espirito Santo says his side can still qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League after their loss to Vitesse Arnhem.

Nuno changed his entire starting XI and left all of his big guns at home in order to prepare for Sunday’s Premier League match with West Ham and a second string were undone by Maximilian Wittek’s 78th-minute strike.

The side Nuno picked still had nine international players, but they were never really in the game and Bryan Gil’s shot that hit the crossbar early in the second half was their only moment of note. The result leaves them third in Group G, two points behind Vitesse and three behind leaders Rennes.

“You have to discuss the options, the decision was made,” he said about leaving the star names at home. “We took a little moment to decide and we decided to bring the players that started, with the Under-23s to give us support.

“It was a tough match like we expected. Always away from home in Europe in the Conference League is tough. I think we compete well, in terms of attack I think we should finish the actions better. Some combinations were missing.

“In terms of the group I think we have two games at home against Vitesse and Rennes and then we have to play Mura. We can solve the situation of the group.”

Nuno insisted this was not his second XI. “I don’t consider it this way,” he said. “A football match is always a chance to compete. Our approach is always the same, we expect our players to compete in all the matches, no matter the competition.”