Tottenham returned to winning ways with a narrow win over Brighton at the Amex stadium.
Following a difficult time off the pitch for everyone at Tottenham Hotspur, coach Antonio Conte lauded his players' all-round display at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
The Lilywhites secure a vital 1-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League, thanks to a close-range header from England captain Harry Kane.
The sad passing of Spurs’ fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone was difficult for everyone to take at the north London club on Thursday, however, Conte was glad that the players fought hard to bounce back from last week’s north London derby defeat by securing the narrow win against the Seagulls yesterday.
The win move Spurs to third spot in the English top flight, two points behind champions Manchester City, and a point behind local rivals Arsenal, who host Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
'A really tough week for all at Tottenham.'
Speaking to BBC Sport about the emotional win, Tottenham boss Conte said: "It was a really tough week for us, not only for me - my staff and players and all the Tottenham environment.
"He was a person who was in the heart of every single Tottenham person. It was really tough for us. Tomorrow is the funeral, we will go with the staff. It is very difficult for me to speak about the situation because it is difficult to understand what happened.
"At the end to win a game today against a really strong team like Brighton it shows that I can count not only good players but also good men.
"I try to stay very close to his family because I have known them for a long time. Sometimes life is not always positive things. There are bad situations but at the same time you have to be good to cope with those moments in the right way."
Analysing the match against Brighton, who held Liverpool to a 3-3 draw last weekend, the Italian coach said: "It was a good response [to the derby defeat] but we played a really good game with personality at Frankfurt in the Champions League.
"Now we have the chance to play two games in our stadium, our fortress. It is important for the fans to create a good atmosphere in our next game to push us until the end.
"I prefer in this game to start with two strikers because in this moment we have injuries. I am happy because I had a good response from Matt Doherty, Yves Bissouma played from the start, a lot of positive things."
Kane: 'Sometimes those just hit you and go in.'
Tottenham goalscorer Harry Kane added: "Yeah I've scored a few goals here, it's a really difficult place to come. Brighton are a really good side and we had to work hard for the win.
"We bounced back after the north London Derby defeat and we did that even though it wasn't the best performance.
"We just have to take it game by game, we have the champions League match on Wednesday."
When quizzed about his goal, he replied: "When you're in good form, sometimes those just hit you and go in."
He also revealed his thoughts on his injury during the hard-fought win: "The ankle is ok, no twist or anything so I'm pretty sure it's fine."
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