Conte will not be following Nuno’s route to total rest
ANTONIO CONTE insists he is taking the Europa Conference League seriously and has underlined that by taking his entire Tottenham squad to NS Mura.
Spurs face the Slovenians away tonight hot on the heels of last weekend’s 2-1 win over Leeds and with a trip to Burnley to follow in the Premier League on Sunday.
But unlike predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo, who was sacked earlier this month, Conte has elected to take his regulars with him for the continental midweek trip.
Nuno chose to leave his entire first-choice starting XI at home for the game at Vitesse Arnhem last month in order to save them for a top-flight match at West Ham. They ended up losing both.
Spurs boss Conte revealed he will rotate ‘for sure’ but said: ‘All the players available will come with us. They must be ready to play. For us, this competition is important. We
want to take this fixture seriously and we want to go through to the next step.’
However, the Italian fears the injury centre-back Cristian Romero picked up on international duty with Argentina against Brazil last week is ‘serious’.
The defender is set to have a second scan on his hamstring issue later this week to determine the severity of the problem but Conte expects bad news.
Romero’s Argentina team-mate, midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, also reported back last week in less than ‘perfect physical condition’, according to the 52-year-old, while forward Dane Scarlett has a knock as well.
‘We’re waiting for another scan (on Romero),’ added Conte. ‘Honestly, I think his injury is serious. We have to wait.
‘I don’t know the time he needs to recover. Surely his injury is more serious than Giovani Lo Celso or Dane Scarlett. We have to wait for the next scan and then the doctor can give more information on the dates for his recovery.’
For us this competition is important, we want to go through to the next step