Antonio Conte to ‘take it easy’ on Tottenham return following gallbladder surgery, says Cristian Stellini

Antonio Conte will “take it easy for a bit” after returning to Tottenham following his recovery from gallbladder surgery according to assistant boss Cristian Stellini.

Conte was diagnosed with cholecystitis – inflammation in the gallbladder – which required an operation in his native Italy.

After confirming the procedure was a success, Conte has seemingly returned to work with Spurs, although it is unclear how much he will be involved for the foreseeable future with a full recovery for such surgery expected to be up to eight weeks.

“Antonio is back,” he said in the pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to the King Power Stadium. “This morning he was on the pitch with us. He will have to take it easy for a bit.

“We were so happy to have him back on the training ground. He took time to hug every player.

“We didn’t speak about what he would do in the next match but he is back. We have time to be ready.”

Stellini said that the tactical approach for the match came from Conte, despite not being in attendance.

“Our tactics came from what Antonio wanted,” he said.

“We continued that. Me and Ryan Mason, we spoke immediately during the game that we needed to change something and we decided to have Eric Dier being more aggressive in dealing with Bernardo Silva and that is all we changed.”

Conte’s absence is not the only one Tottenham have to contend with. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is set to be out for several weeks with a knee ligament injury suffered in the City win.

Spurs look set to call on back-up stopper Fraser Forster, with Stellini talking up the former Southampton player’s credentials ahead of a run in the first team.

“We are all disappointed about Hugo [Lloris],” he said. “He is injured. However, we have a good, experienced goalkeeper like Fraser Forster, with the great experience in the Premier League and a good experience in the Champions League.

“So we have five weeks in front of us with Fraser. We trust him, so we are happy to play with him in the squad. Also we say to Hugo, ‘see you soon’ because he needs a good recovery, maybe five to seven weeks to be back.”