Tottenham kept their top-four dreams alive on Wednesday evening with an important 2-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion. Needing to gain all three points on the south coast following the late 3-2 defeat at Manchester United in their previous game, goals from Cristian Romero and Harry Kane saw Spurs come out on top.
Arsenal's 2-0 defeat against Liverpool on the same evening now means that Antonio Conte's side are three points off their north London rivals having played one game more. However, the sides are due to meet at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium later in the season in a game which could have a major say in the top-four race.
Keeping three clean sheets in their last four Premier League games, Conte needs more of the same from Romero, Eric Dier and Ben Davies over the coming weeks to give the Lilywhites the best chance possible of finishing fourth. One thing the head coach ideally could do without is Romero's recent spate of yellow cards continuing as he is very close to picking up a two-match ban.
READ MORE: Every word Conte said with angry retort to Arteta, Skipp update, shouting at Romero & Dier snub
Asked about his defender in his post-match press conference following the victory at the Amex, Conte heaped praise on the 23-year-old and also outlined what he must do if he is to go up another level or two. The Spurs boss is clearly well aware of the fact that the ex-Atalanta man has all the attributes to become a "top defender".
"Cristian Romero is a good player, and he has to be focused in every moment of the game," said Conte. "If he is focused in every moment of the game, with the ball, without the ball, he is really good player with a lot of space for improvement. He played a really good game, like the other team-mates.
"For sure we are talking about a player, a young player, with a lot of space for improvement. He has to have the desire, the will, to continue to improve, and to ask himself much more. Because he has the possibility to become a top defender, but it depends on him. And on the manager to help him, sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way. But the most important thing is he has to improve."
Our Spurs correspondents Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest discussed Romero's performance and also dissected the vital win over Brighton in the latest episode of their Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham podcast. They also spoke about Rodrigo Bentancur's impressive showing at the Amex, why Davies deserves plenty of praise and a new contract for Oliver Skipp.
You can find all of that in the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking right here with links to most podcast platforms.
