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Football London
Football London
Sport
Alasdair Gold

Cristian Stellini explains that Fraser Forster has a different set of skills to Hugo Lloris

Tottenham assistant boss Cristian Stellini believes Fraser Forster will bring a different set of skills in goal to injured captain Hugo Lloris.

Lloris, 36, is set to miss out on six to eight weeks of football following a knee injury sustained late on in Tottenham's win against Manchester City on Sunday. That means 34-year-old experienced ex-England international Forster will come into the side for a crucial run of games in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

"We trust in him and he knows, because it's not the first game he’s going to play. With your behaviour, with your relationship you create with him you can transfer to him that you trust in him. This is what we do during all the season," said Stellini of Forster.

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"He’s an important player because he was also in the national team, so we don’t have to transfer to him too much confidence because he has confidence. He has great experience and it’s only the relationship you create with him that lets him understand that you trust in him. Also, he trains very well every day."

When asked whether Forster had any skills that were better than Lloris', Spurs' assistant head coach shot down that suggestion.

"No, I don’t think there is some aspect that he is better than Hugo Lloris in, because Hugo Lloris is a world champion," he said. "He’s just different.

"Every player has particular skills. Fraser has particular skills different from Hugo Lloris. Maybe he uses his physicality differently. But they are both create players and I don’t want to create difference between them."

On their relationship as goalkeepers, Stellini added: "I look at them in the training ground. I don’t know about their personal relationship. I know they discuss a lot about goalkeepers. They discuss a lot when they watch other goalkeepers and they enjoy those moments.

"They work with Marco Savorani and they have meetings with Marco. I follow the meeting with Marco and they discuss a lot about situations from our games and other games.

"This is the relationship. They are professional players that look every time at football, feel football and discuss football. This is also a great skill that our players need to have."

Stellini also has faith in young goalkeepers Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman, both 24 and neither having played a minute of competitive football for the club, should they be required between the sticks.

"Yeah, it's completely different speaking about Forster with his experience and then Brandon and Alfie, but we would be confident if we need to play with them because they work with us every day," he said. "We understand their level and we have to keep them confident and the work they did is the confidence we have in them to use in the game."

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