'Difficult' – Ivan Perisic issues clear message to Yves Bissouma after latest Antonio Conte snub ahead of Brighton return

The Mali international has made just one start so far for Antonio Conte's team as he's struggled to establish himself in the Spurs' midfield. It's been a drastic change for Bissouma who had been the main man in he Brighton engine room before his August exit.

Conte has often used Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur as his preferred midfield combination and publicly stated that Bissouma needs to improve on the tactical side of his game.

Bissouma was once again on the bench for Spurs' Champions League match at Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek and will desperately hope for game time this Saturday as Conte's men travel to the Amex Stadium to face Bissouma's old club Brighton.

His Croatian teammate Ivan Perisic did have words of comfort for the former Brighton star this week. Perisic also had a difficult start to life under Conte during their time together at Inter and was even sent on loan to Bayern Munich.

The left-sided player then returned and won Conte over and even went on to play a key role in their title winning side that season.

“It was tough [for me] in the beginning [under Conte],” Perisic said. “I spoke with all the [other] new players and they have to know that they came to a big club and they have to be patient, work every day and wait for their chance.

"When the chance comes, they have to play well. Only like this they can help the team to win the games.

“The club, the management is important, the coach is important, the humility of the team, a lot of good players with a winning mentality also.

You have to build a good atmosphere in the club. If you don’t have all of this, I think it’s going to be difficult to win something.”