Packed schedule will show whether Tottenham are contenders – Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte believes the time to judge Tottenham will come in the upcoming busy period when the club will play once every three days.

Spurs have started the new Premier League season with seven points from a possible nine, but now begin a two-and-a-half-month schedule in which they will play 20 games in domestic and European competitions.

A spate of summer signings has raised expectations at Tottenham and Conte, knowing how they deal with this packed fixture list, starting with a trip to Nottingham Forest on Sunday, will go a long way in deciding whether they can truly be called a contender.

He said: “I also spoke to (Managing Director) Fabio Paratici about this difficulty. Playing a game every seven days is one thing. Playing a lot of games every three days is something else entirely.

“During this time you understand which team and which squad are really good to be competitive.

“For a lot of situations where they play every three days because of injuries, because the players get tired and you have to do rotations, it’s the right moment to understand if the depth of your squad is good, the depth is right and the Is the quality right?“

Conte has repeatedly stressed the need to have two players for each position as Spurs are back in the Champions League this season.

The draw took place on Thursday and Tottenham are in Group D alongside Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon and Marseille. While they avoided some of Europe’s biggest clubs, the 53-year-old didn’t want to underestimate any of their opponents.

“We are talking about the most important and most difficult competition in Europe, maybe even worldwide, because in this competition you find the best teams in the world,” said Conte.

“I think the draw and our group, I see balance. Of course our goal is to get through to the next round, that has to be clear.

“I think we got the opportunity to play this important competition and we want to enjoy playing good football and have the opportunity to go far.”

Before Spurs shift their focus to Champions League football, they face Forest, West Ham and Fulham over the next week.

The summer transfer deadline is also next Thursday and the futures of Sergio Reguilon and Harry Winks remain undecided.

Bryan Gil is also set to leave the club on loan with Valencia keen to bring him back to Spain but he will only leave if a replacement is in line.

Conte added: “If there are players going out, obviously we need players coming in. The club knows very well how important it is for me to have a squad with a few players in each role.

“Obviously we want to make every single player happy, but at the same time we have to make the right assessment for our club, for our team, so we’ll see what happens.

“There are players who are on the plan and other players that we want to try and give them the opportunity to play more regularly and take more time to play. I repeat, we are trying to find the best solution for both the club and the team, but also for the players.”