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Son Heung-min believes that he and his Tottenham team-mates must share the same passion as manager Antonio Conte if they are to be successful.

Spurs turned to Conte in November in a bid to finally turn the tide following a troublesome few years for the club. While Mauricio Pochettino almost won the Champions League with Tottenham, they have struggled to reach those heights again.

They did get to the Carabao Cup final last season, but Manchester City proved their status as favourites. And Conte has made no secret of the fact that his current challenge is one of his toughest in football management.

The Italian has had some success so far, but the lows have come with some alarming statements. Indeed, after Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat at Burnley, Conte insisted that “the situation is not changing”. He consequently urged the club to assess his future.

However, Saturday’s 4-0 win over Leeds United has swung the mood again at Tottenham.

According to Son, Spurs need to keep following Conte’s guidance if he is to lead them to success.

Asked about Conte’s passion on the touchline, the forward told Football London: “That’s why he’s special. He’s so passionate.

“He wants to win, he wants clean sheets, he wants us to be better.

“This I think is such a positive signal. We should take this as improvement and we should be also that passionate for the games coming. We are all happy to work with him. I think it’s so, so important we keep this.”

Son added that the win over Leeds was a show of “great character” after the frustration at Burnley. However, the South Korean insisted that “we can’t be super, super happy because we have many more games to come” in the hunt for a top-four Premier League finish.

With Son and strike partner Harry Kane on the pitch, Spurs will always have a chance at making the top four. The pair combined again on Saturday for the 37th time, subsequently becoming the most potent strike partnership in Premier League history.

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Son labelled it an “amazing” achievement, but said words like “superb” and “unreal” do not go far enough to describe England captain Kane’s influence on the team.

The striker grabbed the headlines and praise from several pundits for his starring role against Leeds. While he finished his goal well, he dropped deep and supplied Son with expert passes in behind seemingly every time.

Son targeting Tottenham FA cup glory

While Tottenham’s main focus is on qualifying for next season’s Champions League, they are still in the FA Cup.

They face Championship side Middlesbrough away for a place in the quarter-finals.

Spurs have a chequered recent history in the FA Cup. They have not progressed past the fifth round since the 2017/18 season, when they reached the semi-finals.

And that was their second semi-final in a row, losing to Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley on the respective occasions.

Tottenham faced Middlesbrough in the third round in 2020, eventually getting through after a replay at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Son said of Tuesday’s clash between the sides: “Everyone wants to win. Everyone does. To win a trophy you need to suffer a lot. I play for the win. Obviously I want to enjoy playing football but at the end of the day there’s a winner and a loser.

“This game is a long way from the FA Cup final but everyone, every team wants to win, but who suffers more I think wins.

“It means a lot for me. I’m going to work hard and play hard for the team, for myself, for the club. I think it means a lot. I can’t say what it means to win a trophy for this club. It’s going to be incredible, but we need to suffer a lot.

“Not only this game. I’m ready to suffer in every game. I will try my best like I always do.”

After facing Boro, Tottenham return to Premier League action next Monday when facing Everton.

The post ‘That’s why he’s special’ – Son urges Tottenham to avoid Conte mistake and lauds ‘unreal’ Spurs star appeared first on TEAMtalk.