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Football London
Football London
Sport
Alasdair Gold

The seven Tottenham players who will step up for Antonio Conte in the second half of the season

Tottenham Hotspur are now looking with a degree of hope towards the second half of the season and there are a number of players who can step up their campaigns to help the cause.

Sunday's impressive 1-0 victory against title-challengers Manchester City coupled with a strengthened squad and five wins from their past seven games, including five clean sheets, has renewed confidence that Antonio Conte's men can push on in the second half of the campaign.

Tottenham sit three points behind third-placed Manchester United in fifth and face AC Milan in the last 16 of the Champions League. They will also take on either Wrexham or Sheffield United in the fifth round of an FA Cup that has lost all of its big guns except for the two Manchester clubs.

READ MORE: Pedro Porro illness, what Kane asked Conte on the phone, funny Lucas and Emerson's fitting post

The likes of Harry Kane and Rodrigo Bentancur among others have been leading the way for Spurs so far in a mixed campaign for the north London but here are seven other Tottenham stars that we reckon will step up in the remaining three and a half months of the season.

Son Heung-min

The South Korean star is the first to admit that he has struggled at times this campaign and he has not been able to replicate last season's goalscoring exploits that took him to the Premier League Golden Boot.

In the three previous games Son has scored in this season it has failed to spark a revival in his fortunes. However, after two excellent goals against Preston in the FA Cup, he did provide another dangerous display against City on Sunday which suggests he might have found his rhythm again.

An in-form Son is one of Tottenham's star men and if he's back in the groove then so will Spurs be.

Pedro Porro

The 23-year-old Spaniard will continue to get indoctrinated into the Conte way this week after recovering from a bug last week that had been working its way around the Spurs camp.

Porro was Spurs' top target in the January window and they eventually got the £40m wing-back on deadline day. He was introduced to the crowd on Sunday even if he didn't get any minutes to his name, but with 11 assists and three goals for Sporting this season Porro is going to bring extra attacking quality down the right and he's got all the tools to shine in the Conte system.

Richarlison

Other than a couple of brief glimpses of what he can do, the £60m summer signing has not produced what Spurs fans would have hoped yet.

Injuries have not helped Richarlison and have ensured he's missed 11 games this campaign around an impressive World Cup for Brazil. The 25-year-old has appeared in 18 match in a Spurs shirt and has scored in only one of them, his match-winning Champions League debut against Marseille.

Conte has plenty of attacking options now and Brazil's number nine is a fighter, He should thrive on the competition and hopefully start to repay that hefty price tag.

Emerson Royal

Not many fans would have put Emerson Royal on this list even a fortnight ago but plenty can happen at Tottenham Hotspur in the space of a few days.

The 24-year-old produced his best performance in a Spurs shirt at the weekend and won over plenty of critics with his display. Spurs assistant boss Cristian Stellini made a great point to football.london after the game when speaking about Emerson that it is important to have different options in each position with very different skill sets in order to face different opponents.

That is perfectly represented at right wing-back where Tottenham now have the attacking threat of Porro but also have the determined Emerson, who has proved that he can defend against the best. Both could end up proving to be the best counterparts and coaches for each other.

Arnaut Danjuma

Tottenham's other new face in the January transfer window, Danjuma made an instant impact with a debut goal in the FA Cup at Preston.

The Netherlands international brings skill and power to the left and through the middle and it's perhaps no coincidence that Son's form has reignited with the added competition the 26-year-old brings.

Conte now has plenty of goalscorers to turn to on his bench when games need changing or he wants a different blend to start matches and Danjuma's £21m option to buy could prove to be a bargain if he brings what the Spurs boss needs in the weeks ahead.

Yves Bissouma

It hasn't quite worked for Bissouma yet, particularly with Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg forming such a strong partnership in the centre of the pitch.

It's easy to forget though just how good Bissouma is. The Mali international has been one of the best midfielders in the Premier League in recent years and that ability doesn't disappear just because he's adjusting to a new club and new demands.

The 26-year-old will adapt to the Conte way and with the games coming thick and fast he will get opportunities in the months ahead to remind everyone just how good he is.

Lucas Moura

The next few months represent something of a swansong for Lucas Moura with the likelihood that he will depart in the summer when his contract expires, after Spurs chose not to take up the December option to extend his deal by 12 months.

The 30-year-old has missed much of this season with his tendon inflammation problem but he now looks to be on the road back to first team minutes.

Lucas still has plenty to give in these remaining months and he's got that history of coming up trumps for Spurs in big moments and with his experience Conte will continue to turn to him when needed before the season's end and there's no reason why he can't sign off with a flourish.

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