Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte says winning trophies in Europe is easier than succeeding in England ahead of an FA Cup clash with Middlesbrough.

Spurs are seventh in the Premier League after a 4-0 demolition of Leeds United, five points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, who played one game more.

Conte’s side are also still in contention for the FA Cup, in which they will face Chris Wilder’s Middlesbrough on Tuesday, while the north London club were knocked out in the EFL Cup semi-finals by Chelsea, who lost the final against Liverpool on Sunday.

Conte insisted it will be a tough challenge to lift a domestic trophy at the end of the season, given the quality of competition in England.

“Winning trophies in England, as I’ve said before, is very difficult,” he told reporters at Monday’s pre-match press conference. “At the moment it’s easier to win in Europe than in England.

“When you start playing the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the final, you have to fight against a top team that could probably play the Champions League final. It’s important to keep qualifying for this trophy.

“It happened in the EFL Cup, don’t underestimate the semi-final reached by Tottenham, because the final was Chelsea against Liverpool, so reaching the semi-final was a good result for Tottenham.

“It must be a boost to push us to improve the level, to be competitive, to try to meet a trophy as soon as possible, because if I talk about the future, you don’t understand the time we need. .

“It will be important to improve the level and fight to win a trophy. But I repeat, winning a trophy now is very difficult.”

Conte reached successive FA Cup finals during his two-season stint at Chelsea, beating Manchester United in the latter in 2018.

The Italian is hoping to reach Wembley Stadium for the third time this season but has implored his side to be more consistent if they are to end the club’s wait for silverware.

“I’m not desperate but you know very well that I want to win,” he added.

“But I’m not desperate or it would be very difficult to continue. For sure it’s a great competition and before that I had the chance to reach the [FA Cup] last two consecutive years.

“I would like to continue this tradition for Tottenham, especially for my players, especially the fans and the club, not just for me.

“But you know this trophy is neither simple nor easy, and tomorrow we have to face Middlesbrough, a tough game. Middlesbrough knocked Manchester United out of this competition.

“I want to see continuity in my players’ performances and results. We need continuity to show that in defeat we learn something more.

“I also want to celebrate the game between Chelsea and Liverpool yesterday, it was a great and exciting game to watch.

“It also highlights how difficult it is to win trophies in this country. It was amazing for me and all people from other countries to watch this game.

“Big congratulations from me to Chelsea and Liverpool, the players, the coach, for the fans, for the total environment, it was fantastic publicity for football. I think England should be proud of that.”