Antonio Conte has broken his silence about the Premier League's decision to postpone the scheduled North London Derby on Sunday.
The decision was made on Saturday afternoon and it now leaves Tottenham with four games in hand, after previous cancellations due to bad weather and a Covid outbreak at the club before Christmas.
The game was called off due to Mikel Arteta's side not being able to call upon the required 13 fit and available outfield registered players to take part in the game.
Their absences came from a Covid case, as well as a number of injuries and players who are currently representing their countries at the Africa Cup of Nations.
In a statement on the Club's website, the N17 based side expressed their disappointment with the decision.
"We are extremely surprised that this application has been approved," the statement read.
"We ourselves were disqualified from the European Conference League after a significant number of COVID cases meant we needed to reschedule a fixture and our application to move our Leicester fixture was not approved - only for it to be subsequently postponed when Leicester applied.
"The original intention of the guidance was to deal with player availability directly affected by COVID cases, resulting in depleted squads that, when taken together with injuries, would result in the club being unable to field a team.
"We do not believe it was the intent to deal with player availability unrelated to COVID."
This frustration was echoed by Conte in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, when asked about his thoughts on the postponed game.
"I think the club made a statement and they showed our disappointment at the decision. It was a strange decision," the Italian explained ahead of Wednesday's Premier League game with Leicester at the King Power Stadium.
"Honestly, it's my first time in my life - and I've had a bit of experience in football - to see this type of decision. It was very strange because in this way anything can happen."
This now means it is yet another game for the Lilywhites to fit into their already busy schedule and it means Conte has to prepare himself for an even more packed final five months of the season.
As with many other teams, Spurs are struggling with injury issues, with Eric Dier, Cristian Romero and Heung-min Son among those out of action.
"My feeling is that when there is the situation to play you have to play," the 52-year-old admitted. "Normally to postpone games is due to international duty.
"We have a big problem to solve that is Covid, but only in this situation. For other situations, honestly, this is my first time in my life.
Conte was also asked about a solution to the postponements, which are now effecting several clubs.
"I think that if the Premier League decides to postpone games for injury it means that maybe they have to try to make a best schedule and to reduce many to play games, and if they don't want injuries and if they don't want the risk to postpone for injuries
"I think that we have to continue to try to have a good result in the league. We know that only after the international break the injured players are ready to come back and it will be difficult to come back from this period," he added.
"It's not easy to come back from this period when you have many injuries in your squad. Then we'll see if anything comes from this period in the transfer market."
The January transfer window is something that all Tottenham fans are hoping can be prove to be positive for the Lilywhites.
Conte will be hoping that when January is over, he will have a fully-fit squad, be able to consistently play scheduled fixtures and maybe even have a couple of fresh faces to work with at Hotspur Way.
