Football: Conte already planning Spurs return, says assistant Stellini

LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte will not be back as quickly as he would like after undergoing surgery but is eager to return to the bench in a key part of the Premier League season, assistant coach Cristian Stellini said.

Conte is in Italy and will not be on the touchline for Sunday’s home clash against West Ham after suffering a setback following a gall bladder operation on Feb 1.

The 53-year-old was back at work just eight days after his medical procedure and took charge for Spurs’ defeats at Leicester and AC Milan.

But he admitted on Thursday he had come back too soon and will now take more time to fully recover.

Stellini will oversee the team after managing their recent 1-0 win against Manchester City, although his football-obsessed boss is already keen to get back to work.

“Health is more important than football and this is the reason why the club, Antonio and the doctors decided to take this responsibility and leave Antonio in Italy after the last game,” Stellini said on Friday.

“Since the moment he came back... Antonio’s feeling was that maybe he underestimated the procedure after the surgery. The stress, the tension before the (Leicester) game created some problems.

“He needs to take it easy again. He will come back soon but not like he hoped. We don’t know the time.

“We have a call every day, many times in a day and every time he wants to come back.

“He repeats every day, ‘I want to come back Cristian, I’m sorry but how was training, tomorrow we have to organise something particular, we have to organise the team, what do you feel, what do you think?’. He wants to come back.”

One consolation for Tottenham is Stellini’s record while deputising for Conte.

He has presided over the City win and also a Champions League victory against Marseille when the Italian was banned from the touchline earlier this season.

Stellini also achieved three wins out of three when standing in for Conte at Inter Milan.

He confirmed that there are no new injury concerns for fifth-placed Spurs ahead of the visit of West Ham.

Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma, Hugo Lloris and Ryan Sessegnon remain sidelined.

As for the Hammers, who have drawn their last two league games against Chelsea and Newcastle, Lucas Paqueta, Alphonse Areola, Maxwel Cornet, Kurt Zouma and Gianluca Scamacca are out for the game.

Manager David Moyes offered some words of encouragement for Conte on Friday.

He said: “He’d be a big miss (on the touchline) for any club because he’s a top manager.

“He puts big demands on himself and his teams and he works them so well.

“He will be a miss, of course, but they’ve got a good group of players at Tottenham and I’m sure they will get on with the job.”
AFP, REUTERS