Antonio Conte claims he has to manage the squad carefully over the busy Christmas period and admitted concerns regarding Harry Kane’s workload.
Tottenham have seen three of their fixtures postponed this month following a Covid-19 break at the club.
All the players who tested positive have now recovered from the virus and returned to training but some of them continue to work up to full fitness.
On Wednesday, Conte attributed his side’s drop in intensity in the final 20 minutes of the 2-1 win against West Ham to the physical condition of the players who previously had the virus.
The Lilywhites now face Crystal Palace and Southampton in a space of three days and the Tottenham head coach admitted the situation is quite tricky to manage.
When asked about the busy Christmas schedule, he told Football.London: “It is not easy for us, it is not easy for all the teams to play after only one day is not simple.
“You have to manage the situation very well because of the risk to lose players for injuries, so we have to pay great attention, especially my team.
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“Don’t forget we had half our squad with Covid and in previous press conferences I said that when you take Covid, then you have to live with this situation for two to three weeks after you finished with Covid.
“We have to try to manage the situation very well because for sure physically the players with Covid are not 100 per cent fit but we must be ready and for sure in these two games we try to rotate the players to find a good balance, to find a good solution but also because we want to have a good result and not to only play two games.”
Kane has started every single game across all competitions since Conte’s arrival at the club and the striker certainly is not a stranger to picking up injuries at this point of the season.
While Conte admitted it is difficult to leave Kane on the bench, he revealed he is cautious about the striker’s workload.
When asked if he fears about the England captain potentially picking up an injury given his past issues, the Spurs boss responded: “I know this and it is difficult to start the game without Harry because he is a point of reference in our team.
“For sure these days I speak with him, I speak with the players because I what to understand very well which is the real physical condition.
“If there is someone that has a bit of fatigue, it will be very important to have a good chat with the players because we have to manage this period.
“This period is not easy but not only for us, but for all the teams in the Premier League.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It is difficult to see Kane being left out of the starting lineup against Palace or Southampton. However, we might see Conte potentially bringing the 28-year-old off after an hour in one or both of those matches if the results are not in the balance.
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