Antonio Conte has revealed that he asks players ahead of matches if they are ready to play and allows them to decide on their availability.
Tottenham have been crippled by injury woes over the last few weeks, particularly in the forward areas, with Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski currently sidelined.
Lucas Moura, who had himself only returned from his injury lay-off a couple of weeks ago, made his first start of the campaign against Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday.
In addition, Spurs were also without two of their most important players in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Cristian Romero for their defeat to Newcastle United last Sunday, with both players missing out due to muscle fatigue.
With matches now coming thick and fast, Conte admitted that he sometimes leaves the final decisions with the players themselves regarding their fitness.
When asked if Harry Kane, who has started every game so far this campaign, could be rested against Bournemouth this afternoon, the Italian told Football.London: “There was a possibility if you have players to play in his place. But if Richarlison is out, Kulusevski is out, I have to ask the players to play otherwise we are in trouble.
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“For sure every time I ask about the availability of the players because I have great respect for my players. First of all, I don’t want to take risks with injuries
“Sometimes I ask my players, ‘Are you available for tomorrow if I want to pick you in the team?’ If they give me their availability then I will try to pick the best selection. Sometimes I can decide and sometimes I’m not in the possibility to make a decision.
“In this case, we have only two strikers, Harry and Sonny. Don’t forget when I put Sonny on the bench, you said to me a lot of things!
“In another way, you have always to try the right balance. But Harry is OK, he stays well, he wants to play, he gives his availability and is always an important player for us.”
Conte admitted that the nature of the schedule this season is quite hard on the players, both physically and mentally, and called on the fans to continue to push them during games.
He added: “For sure, this type of season is very difficult and I think everybody has to understand this. To play every three days, every two days and a half, it’s not simple to recover and it’s difficult to recover for me with the energy.
“I imagine it’s difficult for my players to recover and in this type of situation, the fans of every team have to stay closer to try and push, to try to help the team, every team but not only Tottenham because this type of situation they need to understand it’s a big, big effort for everybody.
“For sure, we talk a lot about the welfare of the players, but also the welfare of the managers because in this way we put a serious risk to the welfare of the players and the manager.
“I repeat that we don’t play but the stress that we are under before every game, every two days for game after game. Analysis, video, to speak to the players. It’s fatigue. It’s OK and it’s the same for everybody. I’m not complaining and I’m only answering your question.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I do not think Conte will risk any of his key players against Bournemouth if they are not at 100 per cent. While it is important to get back to winning ways in the Premier League, the clash against Marseille on Tuesday is far more important and will have a huge bearing on our season.
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