Tottenham Hotspur assistant manager Cristian Stellini has provided an update on Antonio Conte's return to the dugout. The Spurs manager has been absent from the touchline for a number of weeks as he continues to recover after undergoing an operation to remove his gallbladder last month.
Despite only being present for the 4-1 defeat against Leicester City last month, Conte has been nominated for the Premier League Manager of the Month award. The Lilywhites beat Manchester City, West Ham and Chelsea last month as they remain in the frame for a top four spot come the end of the season.
Spurs face an uphill battle after suffering defeat in their Champions League round of 16 first leg against AC Milan. Stellini oversaw Tottenham's shock FA Cup fifth round exit against Sheffield United and blamed the loss on a lack of energy - a missed opportunity as the wait for a trophy goes on.
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Stellini has now given an update on Conte's potential return date in his press conference ahead of the clash against Wolves this weekend. When asked about when Conte could be expected to return to take charge of the team, Stellini said: “I’ve seen him from video call and he feels better, he feels like in charge, he feels ready to come back.
"He cannot wait for the moment to come back. His frustration to not be here is huge so I feel he is better and ready.
"He is exercising. He speaks with the players every game before the game on the video.”
Stellini addressed the concerns over Spurs' mentality when it comes to missing out on winning trophies and major honours following their surprise defeat against Sheffield United on Wednesday night. Stellini continued: "I don’t know what happened.
"I know what’s happening now and I know what I want to change, the way we want to change. We must live the experience and learn from the experience.
"We had the experience last season and we have to learn from that. This is the starting point - we will see what happens in the future.
“The mentality is the reality we showed in the last game. This is the mentality. The approach was not good. It’s not the mentality we need. We have to change from this starting point to the future. What happened in the past is done, finished. We have to start from now.
"I’m not here to analyse what happened in the last 10 years. I’m here to analyse what happens from now into the future. Every game is different but the approach has to be the same against every team and in every type of competition. We need time to change this.
"You don’t know how long you need to change this type of situation because it’s not easy. It’s about the club feeling, the manager feeling, job every day, these are big things.
"Maybe I’m not the right person to explain the vision. We have a manager, a sporting director, a chairman - I am here to explain what I do now."
The Italian was also asked if he thought the club are happy just to finish in the Champions League places every year. "I have never heard this," he said.
"If someone speaks with our staff and Antonio about this, mmm, I think this person will have a problem with Antonio and with us because it's not our vision. We want to win every game, every trophy, every year. that's it."
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