Antonio Conte's return to work at Tottenham will be a 'massive boost' for their top-four hopes, according to assistant head coach Cristian Stellini. Spurs remain fourth in the Premier League table, but endured four days to forget as a shock FA Cup fifth-round defeat to Sheffield United on Wednesday night was followed by a disappointing defeat at Wolves on Saturday.
Conte returned to work on Sunday following his recovery from surgery to remove his gallbladder on February 1. The first assignment for the former Chelsea and Juventus boss will be to overturn a one-goal deficit in the second leg of their Champions League knockout tie with AC Milan, and Stellini is confident the 53-year-old's comeback will provide a major lift to the squad.
Speaking after the 1-0 defeat at Molineux, he told Football.London: "Antonio will be a massive boost for us from tomorrow until the end of the season. It is important that Antonio is back.
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"We want to have him back with a different result but the team show to Antonio it is alive. They want to win, they want to control the game, they want to dominate the game and this is important I think."
Tottenham were made to pay for not capitalising on chances in the first half at Molineux, with Adama Traore going on to score eight minutes' from time to seal victory for the hosts. It is a familiar feeling for Newcastle fans in recent weeks, with the Magpies struggling to score so far in 2023, and Stellini admits his side need to learn their 'lesson'.
The assistant head coach said: "I think the mentality today was good. It is a lesson we have to learn because when you start the game and you control the game, you have to kill the game. This is a lesson we have to learn today."
He added: "They have to find this solution during every game but today was not the lucky day that you shot on target the first and you score. We needed maybe more chances but when you have five, you need to score one."
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