Roberto De Zerbi has made a clear demand to his players ahead of Tottenham’s second pre-season friendly of the summer against Auckland FC on Sunday.Spurs overcame MK Dons 1-0 in a behind-closed-doors game in their first friendly of the summer, with new signing Mateus Fernandes’ long-range volley being the difference between the two sides.Tottenham have travelled to New Zealand and Australia with a large squad, even though several of their World Cup participants have not made the trip and five players are absent due to injury.The club’s pre-season schedule starts to really heat up over the next couple of weeks as the Lilywhites build up to their first Premier League clash of the season against Brentford on August 22.Credit: @thefrederikkejensen / InstagramRoberto De Zerbi asks Tottenham players not to lose focus against Auckland despite long tripThe Tottenham players took what one of the longest flights in the world as they flew from London to Auckland a few days ago.One would expect them to still be dealing with jet lag, but De Zerbi has urged his players not to forget what they are striving for as they build up to the new season and to treat the clash against Auckland seriously.When asked about the traditional Maori welcome that he and his players got, the Tottenham boss told Football.London: “It’s important for us because we know the culture of New Zealand. It’s a great experience. We are looking forward to playing tomorrow and to play against the winner of the New Zealand League in front of a lot of people because I think there will be 40,000 spectators, and we are ready.”When asked about the long trip that he and his team have made for the game, De Zerbi said: “It was the longest trip for sure, but listen, football in this part of the history is like this, because a lot of very important clubs, they go in the pre-season in this type of tournament. We accept to do that, but anyway we can’t lose our focus. Our focus is the beginning of the Premier League, to improve the physical condition of the players, the young players. They come inside of our methodology, of our style of play. We have no excuse, but it was a very long trip and we have to manage that in the best way.”De Zerbi wants Spurs’ young guns to grab their opportunityThe Tottenham boss expects a tough test against Auckland, who are the reigning Champions in New Zealand, and he confirmed that he will field the best team he can tomorrow.When asked about tomorrow’s opponents, De Zerbi said: “I know they won the last New Zealand league. For sure they want to show they are good players. It will be a good game because we play with the best team we can put tomorrow.“A lot of young players, for sure, because we have many players who finished the World Cup. We don’t take risks, I have to repeat about the injuries, but for us it’s a serious game for sure.”Notably, there are a lot of academy players who are part of the Lilywhites’ pre-season tour Down Under, and De Zerbi wants them to grab their opportunities during the upcoming matches.When asked if the game is almost a trial for Tottenham’s youngsters, the 46-year-old said: “It’s important because football for me is important for the name, it’s important for the career, but it’s important what I can watch on the game, during the game. We are all at the same place, the same point, especially for the young players.“I want them to play like a normal game because if we are here it’s because we want to play well, we want to play seriously. No excuses, no friendly game, a normal game.”READ MORE: ‘You’d have to be insane’ – Alasdair Gold begs Tottenham not to accept just £5m profitThe post ‘No excuse’ – De Zerbi sends message to Tottenham youngsters ahead of Auckland FC appeared first on Spurs Web.