Antonio Conte demands more consistency from his Tottenham players

Antonio Conte insists he will keep working to eradicate the inconsistency that has plagued Tottenham’s season.

Spurs were beaten 1-0 by Middlesbrough on Tuesday night as their last remaining hope of silverware was extinguished.

Conte hit out at his team’s poor finishing but accepted the Championship side were worthy winners, teenager Josh Coburn smashing the only goal in the second half of extra-time to book their place in the quarter-finals. 

Harry Kane and Co were dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship side Middlesbrough

‘In this type of game you have to know the difficulty and you have to kill, in a sporting way, your opponent quickly,’ said the Spurs boss.

‘We had chances to score but didn’t take them. We gave confidence to our opponent when that happens. Middlesbrough deserved to win the game. I give great them great compliments.

‘But we should have killed the game before extra-time. We gave Middlesbrough life.’

Spurs have now lost five of their last seven matches in all competitions, and Conte said: ‘We have to learn from this defeat and continue to work. We have to stop these ups and downs.

‘We have to become stronger. If we want to be competitive then we have to be a stable team.

‘We have to continue to work and know there are three months left of the season to try to get the best results.

Conte’s Spurs side have now followed up two impressive victories with two dismal defeats

‘I have to try to find the right key to go into the minds of the players. I only know one way – to work and persevere.

‘But I can’t hide that there are too many ups and downs. It is a problem, also in the past.’

Conte had called into question his own ability following last week’s 1-0 defeat at Burnley. 

When asked if was now doing the same, the Italian said: ‘Sometimes it’s important for the coach in the media conference to have a strategy.

‘After Burnley I used the stick and we won (at Leeds on Saturday). After Leeds I used the carrot and we lost tonight. I know there is a lot of room for improvement.’

Boro boss Chris Wilder said: ‘The energy of the team was outstanding. The team rose to the occasion. I would have been disappointed if we did not win tonight.

‘But we did the job properly. It was an amazing night in front of a full house. This is what football is about.’

Josh Coburn (right) celebrates with his team mates after scoring the winner at the Riverside