Hojbjerg makes ‘laundry basket’ reference when asked about missing Conte

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg made a ‘laundry basket’ reference when asked how Tottenham will cope without Antonio Conte tomorrow evening – alluding to Jose Mourinho’s infamous solution to a dressing room ban back in 2005 (SkySports).

Tottenham Hotspur will have to put it all on the line tomorrow night as they face off against Marseille in the final group stage match of the Champions League.

Spurs would have hoped to get the job done before this week, but any of the teams in Group D can still finish as the leaders and qualify as a seeded club for the knockouts.

It was a case of VAR tragedy for Spurs last week. At one minute, they looked to be heading through as group winners. Then the next, Harry Kane’s goal was chalked off and Antonio Conte was sent off.

As such, Hojbjerg was asked how Spurs would cope without their leader, with Conte banned from the touchline and dressing room tomorrow night.

He said (Football London): “First of all of course your head coach is a massive part of the team. Luckily he has a very good staff and players who are very well aware of what he expects from them and we’ll try the best to fill his role although it’s not possible to fill that gap.

“Whether he’ll hide in a laundry basket, I don’t know. I’d say no.

“He’s a person who lives every game with great passion, with his heart. We need to make sure we’re well prepared which we are. We have to deal with the fact that he’s not on the sideline.

“For me it’s not a difficult situation, it’s more a different situation. We know what we have to do and realise the ambition. The focus is on the pitch and what we have to do.”

Spurs Web Opinion:

I’m not sure Conte not being there will have too much impact. I feel like either the Spurs lads will rise to the occasion, or they won’t and that’s on them. I do like to think about security checking laundry baskets at times like these though.

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