Antonio Conte warns Tottenham players he will find out if they don’t eat well

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte is slowly implementing nutritional changes with his new squad and warned he will know if his orders are not being followed.

The Italian banned ketchup and fizzy drinks from the training ground menu during his time at Chelsea and is said to have made similar demands in his first few weeks with Spurs.

Eating and sleeping are valued highly by the experienced 52-year-old coach, who is preparing for the visit of Leeds in the Premier League on Sunday.

Conte said: “It is not only important the training or the game. You have to prepare yourself in the best possible way. I consider sleeping very important, I consider having good nutrition very important because these two aspects bring the player to recover quickly.

“If you have this type of situation in the right way you can recover quickly, you are ready to work, also sometimes to work very hard and also to avoid injuries. To be professional it means to have all of these situations in your mind.

“Obviously I like also to speak about good nutrition. I spoke with the nutritionist. I am going slowly, slowly because now the most important thing is to work very well on the pitch, to give the priority to the physical, tactical and mental aspect.

“For sure we are going step by step. We want to improve every aspect of my players. Usually when I start to work with players maybe at the start someone can’t understand something like this but then when they start to understand they don’t go away from this road.”

And the Italian showed earlier this month he continues to demand the best of those he has worked with – even for his former players who are now retired.

John Terry received a comment from the current Spurs boss on a recent Instagram post that showed a book and two biscuits which read “John only 1 biscuit” along with some emojis.

While Tottenham players may be careful over any pictures they post on social media which contain food, Conte has insisted one way or another he will know if they are following his rules.

“In Chelsea, I did exactly the same. We spoke about the good food and to eat well. This is a must and in every club I had a nutritionist,” he added.

“You have to stay the right weight, you have to have good fat and good muscle.

“To be professional means you have to take care of your body. If you do this you risk less injury and you are ready to face the training because sometimes the training is hard.

“I can see the results from the nutritionist and I can see if this is OK or not OK and maybe you are not doing well outside the training centre. This is a part of it, to improve the players in many aspects and make the players understand.

“The pitch and game is only the final part of your work. You have to prepare your body, mind, also your heart and passion to do this.”