Antonio Conte hailed Matt Doherty for saving his Tottenham career and declared: ‘He’s an example for everyone’.
The Republic of Ireland star appeared to be heading out the door when the Italian boss took charge in November.
He couldn’t catch a break and was out in the cold, but the Dubliner has turned his season around to become one of the clubs leading performers in recent weeks.
Tottenham have climbed to fourth in the Premier League after a three-game winning run and Doherty even scored against Newcastle on Sunday.
Spurs boss Conte said today: "Matthew is the typical player that is showing big improvement.
"If you remember at the start he didn't play a lot with me because at that moment I think he didn't deserve to play.
"Then he worked very hard. He is a really good guy and in every training session you see the desire and the will to improve himself.”
Conte continued: “He has a great mentality. Many times when players don't play a lot they go down mentally.
“Instead he has shown me that he is strong and shown me 'I do what you want, I am going to improve and when I am ready I want to play'.
"He has shown me that not with talking, but with attitude and behaviour.”
And the Italian added: “He’s playing very well and with great confidence and I am very happy for him. It's a good example for everyone.”
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