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Football London
Football London
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Emma de Duve

Tottenham make decision on Europa Conference League exit with Antonio Conte given fixture boost

Tottenham will not appeal their Europa Conference League exit, with the fixtures for the next round due to be played this month.

football.london reported at the start of the year that whether the club would appeal UEFA's decision to award Rennes a 3-0 victory - in what was meant to be Spurs' last group game of the competition - was in the hands of the club's lawyers.

Due to the win that was given to the French side, the Lilywhites finished third in their group after the six games and just three points behind second-place Vitesse.

This means that if Tottenham had played the fixture against Rennes and been able to get a victory, they would have had a good chance of securing qualification from the group.

The game was scheduled to be played in December, but Spurs had to call it off due to their Covid outbreak, which was confirmed after the visiting side had landed in the capital.

A decision on who would secure their spot in the next round was not confirmed before the knockout draw and Tottenham would've played Rapid Vienna if they had qualified.

football.london then reported that the Lilywhites wanted to play the postponed fixture in mid-December and move their scheduled game against Leicester.

The Premier League wouldn't grant the request but the game was called off anyway, after Brendan Rodgers had his own selection issues.

Antonio Conte hasn't held back in giving his thoughts on the matter, when speaking to the press.

"We want to play the game," he admitted. "Tottenham deserves to play the game and the last game of this group. I think it's a really strange situation.

"When the Government decides to close our training ground and we cannot train and it's for this reason we cannot play, not another reason. We don't have fault.

"We don’t find a good solution between UEFA and Premier League, why Tottenham has to pay for this? It’s not fair we have to pay for a situation that isn’t our fault? I understand if we did something wrong but in this way, for the club, the players, the staff, it’s very difficult to understand what’s happening."

The Lilywhites have had a number of games called off this season already due to a number of complications and are still waiting on new dates for their postponed games against Burnley, Arsenal and Brighton.

Although Conte made it clear he believed his side deserved a chance to try and progress in the European competition, it could now be a boost for the Lilywhites.

If Spurs had got through to the next round, their match would've been on February 17, which is after their home fixture against Wolves and before a trip to the Etihad Stadium to play Manchester City.

Adding another game to an already busy schedule may not have done the 52-year-old's squad any favours, especially as they have already had a number of injury problems.

Although Tottenham were almost forced out of the competition, it means they can now focus on progressing in the FA Cup, with their next game of the competition being against Brighton on Saturday and maybe more importantly, fight to secure a top-four spot and play in Europe next season.

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