Antonio Conte admits Tottenham face a tough task to compete with Manchester City on Saturday as he continued to downplay his side's chances.
Conte had given a controversial interview to Italian media this week where he claimed Spurs were weaker after their January transfer business as he questioned their character and experience, repeatedly referencing a longer-term project timeframe to achieve success.
Now, speaking ahead of Tottenham's trip to City on Saturday, Conte has admitted the contest will expose the difference in quality between the two sides.
He told BeIN Sports (via the Mail): "For sure it will be a tough game for us - but at the same time we want to try to play and we want to try to use this game also to have a step for improvement.
"In this game you understand also the distance, the gap that you have with the other - but you want to play without fear - also because I repeat we are in a moment that we have to go through this situation if we want to have another step and the game against City we know it could be very tough.'
"We know that probably they will have the possession of seventy, seventy-five minutes during the game, but we want to try to change something and also to show that we can fight.
"Manchester City in my opinion is the favourite to win the league this season and also is one of the favourites for the Champions League because we are talking about a team who are very very strong in every aspect – the squad and I don’t see weakness in this team."
Conte also reserved praise for counterpart Pep Guardiola, describing the City boss as the best manager in the world.
"I think that we are talking about the best coach in the world because he shows it in many teams, many different situations, that it is good to build something important," he said.
"And if the club supports him because when you stay in Barcelona and Bayern Munich and then Manchester City, these clubs wanted to invest in him and he repaid this trust.
"I repeat when you see a team of Pep Guardiola you can see an idea of football and you understand that there is a lot of work into the team and this work is his idea and for this reason it’s for me in this moment is the best coach in the world."
