Antonio Conte believes Tottenham are willing to be patient with him but unrealistic Spurs fans are not.

Pressure is building on Conte following a poor run that ended Tottenham s hopes of winning silverware for another season.

Spurs exited the FA Cup to Sheffield United and the Champions League to Milan, while Liverpool and Newcastle United have games in hand in the Premier League top-four chase.

Conte remains in his post for now, but supporter sentiment appears to have turned – something the coach has noted.

Here, the patience has finished for the fans, Conte said. The fans want to win a trophy. Stop.

And then you have to find the right solution to make the fans happy and to win a trophy. Because the patience of the fans has finished. And we f…

Manchester United must continue to showcase their resilience as the season heads towards its conclusion, Erik ten Hag has urged.

A 7-0 hammering at the hands of Liverpool last Sunday attracted vast criticism but did not hinder United in their Europa League exploits, securing a 4-1 victory over Real Betis in the first leg of their round-of-16 clash.

The second-half display was decisive against the Spanish side, having seen Betis equalise against the run of play, which Ten Hag felt highlighted the squad s character.

Such spirit has been present on a number of occasions for United this season, and manager Ten Hag is keen for more of the same against Southampton as the Red Devils seek to nail down third spot.

I think when the season goes to the end, it s goi…

Spanish striker Fernando Torres insisted he is not letting his Euro 2016 snub stop him from focusing everything he has on leading Atletico Madrid to a maiden Champions League triumph.

Torres, who has not played for Spain since the 2014 World Cup, has been in fine form for Atletico this season, with his goals helping the club to a third-place finish in La Liga and a Champions League final showdown against Real Madrid on May 28.

But despite his 12-goal haul this term, the 32-year-old was not selected in Spain s provisional Euro 2016 squad.

Not that Torres seems to mind, as he only cares about winning the Champions League with Atletico.

I m not worried about the Euro, I ve got the biggest game of my life to play, he said.

We are facing an opportuni…

A mouth-watering clash between neighbours Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo kicks off the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals.

Congo coach Claude Le Roy was full of praise for his side ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final against Democratic Republic of Congo at Estadio de Bata on Saturday.

Le Roy s magic touch at the tournament has continued this year, with the 66-year-old reaching the knockout stages for the seventh time in eight attempts achieving that feat with five different nations.

Congo qualified as Group A winners after Fabrice Ondama struck a late winner to consign Burkina Faso to a 2-1 defeat on Sunday.

The 61st-ranked nation also beat Gabon in the group stages and after their latest win, Le Roy struggled to contain his …

Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta feels he has a good idea of how Portugal will play ahead of the two sides Euro 2012 semi-final clash.

The world and European champions face their Iberian neighbours in the first last-four fixture on Wednesday, and Iniesta believes that the Portuguese will adopt a similar defensive style of play to the one they used in the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup, when the Spaniards defeated their neighbours 1-0.

Speaking at a pre-match press conference, the 28-year-old said: Portugal s style or idea is more or less the same as it was in the World Cup. We will see how they set up but I think they will (sit back and) wait for us, they will try to close the space inside so that we have less fluidity to our play.

They have a very strong and har…

Tottenham edged nervously into the UEFA Cup group stages on Thursday to ease the pressure on under-fire coach Juande Ramos but fellow English strugglers Everton crashed out.

Tottenham, rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, drew 1-1 with Wisla Krakow in Poland to secure a 3-2 aggregate win.

Pawel Brozek s lobbed equaliser with seven minutes to go, following Arkadiusz Glowacki s 58th-minute own goal for Tottenham, pushed Spurs into crisis defensive mode but they hung on grimly to go through, courtesy of their 2-1 win at White Hart Lane two weeks ago.

The important thing is qualification, said Ramos who led Sevilla to two UEFA Cup titles before switching to England.

There was no euphoria at the end of the match, it was just a sense of getting the …

As for the visitors, hit with a 3-0 defeat against league leaders Liverpool at the Vitality last weekend, Bournemouth suddenly find themselves in the midst of a real struggle. Since picking up a 1-0 win over Manchester United last month, Eddie Howe s men have lost their last five Premier League matches on the bounce. Now holding just a one-point buffer from slipping into the relegation zone, the Cherries have continued to show some glaring issues on the road. Along with losing their last three matches away from the South Coast and failing to win any of their last six away matches across all competitions, it should also be noted that Saturday s guests have won just four Premier League matches away from the Vitality in 2019. With the mood in their camp the lowest it has been in recent mem…

Liverpool kept their first home clean sheet of the Premier League season in a 2-0 win over Watford as Mohamed Salah s double rescued the off-key Reds.

The manner in which Jurgen Klopp s men can win when out of sorts must be hard to swallow for second-placed Leicester, who drew 1-1 at home to Norwich City, and third-placed Manchester City, who travel to Arsenal on Sunday.

Chelsea failed to put pressure on the top three as they succumbed to a 1-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, but Sheffield United moved up to fifth after brushing Aston Villa aside in a 2-0 win.

Chris Wood s goal was enough to bring Burnley s three-match losing streak to an end, condemning Newcastle United to a first defeat in four league outings.

Meanwhile, in the late kick-off, Sebastien …

Jose Mourinho has hailed Didier Drogba s seamless return to Chelsea and expects the striker to have a big impact this season.

The Ivory Coast international completed his return to Stamford Bridge on a one-year deal last Friday following the expiry of his Galatasaray contract, after originally enjoying an eight-year spell at Stamford Bridge between 2004 and 2012.

Drogba hit 157 goals in 341 appearances during his first stint and is a firm fans favourite, having scored a late equaliser followed by the winning spot-kick as Chelsea won the 2012 UEFA Champions League with a penalty shootout triumph against Bayern Munich.

The 36-year-old joined Chelsea s squad on Sunday as they defeated Olimpija 2-1 in a pre-season friendly, but did not play a role in the match.

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Patrick Vieira has been appointed the new Head of Manchester City s Elite Development Squad as the backroom changes continue at the club.

Vieira has spent the last two years as Football Development Executive at the Etihad Stadium but has been given a new role as the club makes wholesale changes to the backroom staff.

Roberto Mancini s departure from City has seen many of his backroom staff leave the club, including assistant David Platt and Attilio Lombardo, the man Vieira will be replacing.

Although no decision has been made on Mancini s replacement, the club made the decision to give Vieira his first managerial position after an illustrious playing career that saw him win Premier League titles with Arsenal and the World Cup and European Championships with Franc…