Tottenham boss Antonio Conte is happy to be back with his players.
Conte, having recovered from gallbladder surgery, will be in the dugout for Tottenham’s Champions League round 16 second-leg clash with AC Milan.
He said, “My feeling was really good, the importance for me to work with my players and staff is huge. I tried to stay close with videos and to be linked. But to be present is totally different. I thank the staff because they did a great job; I know it wasn’t easy for the players to be away from the coach..
“Now I’m back, I’m happy. We have a big game, we want to go to the next round. I hope to feel an amazing atmosphere in the stadium.
“I was also well for the first game, but for sure I under-evaluated the recovery after surgery. For my sense of responsibility I wanted to come back early, so I maybe over-evaluated my body.
“But now I am well, I recovered energy. I have to still recover weight but for the rest I am OK. My feeling is good, I have a lot of energy and will try to transfer my energy to my players.
“I wanted to come back after the game against Sheffield United but the doctor stopped me and said ‘now you have to listen to me and to wait’.
“I wanted to come back early but in this case I had to respect the doctor, and also the Tottenham doctors because they were really worried after the game against Milan in the first leg.
“For this reason I only came back on Sunday. Now I repeat I am well.
“This type of thing can happen. I discovered after the surgery that many of my friends have had the same surgery. For me, the difference was that this was an emergency surgery, it was not a programmed surgery. For this reason maybe I needed more time to recover well.
“Now I feel I have to stay with the players, I have to breathe this atmosphere on the training ground, to prepare for the game and to stay with them.”
