Tottenham Hotspur assistant manager Cristian Stellini has admitted that he does not expect Antonio Conte to return for next week's London derby against his former club Chelsea.
The Spurs boss underwent an operation to remove his gallbladder after experiencing severe abdominal pain at the end of January, and he was expected to spend a few matches away from the touchline.
However, Conte was surprisingly back at Hotspur Way after a week and took charge of his side's defeats to Leicester City and AC Milan earlier this month, although he had not completely recovered from his procedure.
Following Spurs' Champions League loss to Milan last week, Conte was sent for a health check, and he was advised to remain in Italy with his family to continue his rehabilitation.
As a result, Stellini stepped into his compatriot's shoes for Sunday's 2-0 win over West Ham, where goals from Emerson Royal and Son Heung-min sent Tottenham into the top four of the Premier League table.
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During his post-game press conference, Stellini was asked about the possibility of Conte returning for the visit of Chelsea to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next weekend, but he was pessimistic over the 53-year-old's chances of taking charge in that capital clash.
"No, I am not expecting Antonio is back for Chelsea but I expect Antonio will be back the week after Chelsea," football.london quotes Stellini as saying.
"For Milan or Wolverhampton [Wanderers]. We have also the game in the FA Cup so maybe not Chelsea but we don't know, because if Antonio feels well and he can live some stress without some pain or feel something strange, Antonio will be back."
While watching on from home, Conte witnessed Tottenham struggle for openings in a dull first half against West Ham, but full-backs Emerson and Ben Davies combined for the former to slot home early in the second half.
The Lilywhites doubled their lead later in the second period through Son - who was dropped from the starting lineup before coming off the bench to replace the ineffective Richarlison - as the South Korean found the bottom corner after being played through by Harry Kane.
Stellini revealed that Son was not at 100% physically prior to the match, but he has no concerns about the attacker's confidence levels and has stressed the need to manage his minutes carefully during the unforgiving fixture schedule.
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"No, the confidence is 100 per cent, it is physically that he needed to recover. When he plays five games in a row, sometimes you can feel tired and you can feel something not perfect," Stellini said.
"It is important for us that the player is mature enough to say this. It is important because you can't manage the performance of 11 players. If you have 11 100 per cent, it is better to have seven and three that are not performing well but you need that they are mature and they speak with us.
"Sonny in this case was perfect during the week but now we have time to manage him to play the next step with six games in 14 days."
Sunday's success made it three wins in three for assistant coach Stellini, who also masterminded triumphs over Marseille and Manchester City earlier in the season, but he has continued to downplay his achievements.
"This happened because Antonio is the gaffer, not because I am the gaffer. I only follow the project of his work and the way he works is really clear," Stellini added. "I follow this and I use my experience and I use lot of the staff because we work in a team and we work very well. I am very happy to work with all of them, especially Ryan [Mason] because he helped me a lot."
Tottenham now sit one point clear of Newcastle United, albeit having played a game more, and they can extend their lead over the Magpies next weekend while Eddie Howe's side battle Manchester United in the EFL Cup final.
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