Spurs coach Conte prepares for Stamford Bridge return

Tottenham Hotspur may not have to face Romelu Lukaku in this week's League Cup tie against Chelsea and while manager Antonio Conte did not want to discuss the under-fire striker's situation he said he always liked to see the best players on the pitch.

Lukaku, who won a Serie A title under Conte at Inter Milan, was dropped from Chelsea's squad for their 2-2 draw with Liverpool over comments that were critical of coach Thomas Tuchel's tactics.

“I think it's always a good thing to play against a team that has all the players available,” Conte told reporters when asked about Lukaku. “For the people that watch the game, I think it's good to see the best players on the pitch.

“Honestly, I'd like to not speak about Romelu because Romelu now is a player of another team and I think it'd be disrespectful to speak about him and also about Chelsea.”

Conte guided Chelsea to the Premier League title in the 2016-17 campaign and the FA Cup crown the following season and the Italian said his return to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday would be emotional.

“It's the first time after I left Chelsea as manager to come back to Stamford Bridge,” Conte said. “I spent two amazing seasons, I created a lot of friendships at the club, we did a really important, good job and I enjoyed working there.

“Now I'm the manager of Tottenham and I want to give this club 100% and more to try to improve the team. It'll be good and for sure I'll have emotion to come back to Stamford Bridge.” — Reuters