Tottenham will simply have to "deal with the fact" Antonio Conte will not be with them when they face Marseille in Tuesday's crunch Champions League group-stage game.
That is according to Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who took over press conference duties along with assistant head coach Cristian Stellini after Conte decided not to attend following his red card at the end of the draw with Sporting CP last week.
The Spurs head coach was furious after Harry Kane's stoppage-time goal at 1-1 was ruled out by the video assistant referee for offside, and his reaction saw him sent off.
As a result, Conte will be banned from being on the touchline or in the dressing room for the crucial Group D clash with Marseille at Stade Velodrome.
"Of course, your head coach is a massive part of the team," Hojbjerg told reporters on Monday. "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.
"Whether he'll hide in a laundry basket [referencing Jose Mourinho doing so at Chelsea in 2005 when banned], I don't know. I'd say no," he joked.
"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 lead the group heading into the final round of matches but know they must win to guarantee their passage to the last 16, with a draw only being enough should Sporting and Eintracht Frankfurt also draw.
Marseille are bottom of the group, but will leapfrog Spurs with a home win, though Igor Tudor's side are winless in their past four games in all competitions (D1 L3).
"Our ambition is to go through. That's what we're playing for," Hojbjerg added. "It was a rollercoaster last week [against Sporting CP] but that doesn't help us now. We have the chance tomorrow to achieve our objective."
Stellini confirmed Spurs will still be without injured trio Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison and Cristian Romero, and outlined what the situation will be with Conte's involvement on the day.
"He will sit next to Gianluca [Conte, technical and analytics coach] for sure. I don't know where. He will be here at the stadium," Stellini said. "He will work with us until we arrive here and then we have to stop the communication and then he will stay close to Gianluca.
"We have prepared all the strategies and our strategies are clear. We have to play our match at the best and we all have to do something more to fill the gap."
Inzaghi praises Conte's influence on league-leaders Napoli
Simone Inzaghi predicts a great match-up between Inter and Napoli, who he believes are stronger and very well-organised under new coach Antonio Conte.
The teams will face off in a top-of-the-table Serie A showdown on Sunday, with Napoli currently sitting top of the pile on 25 points, with reigning champions Inter just one point behind them.
Inter enjoy facing Napoli though, recording their most home wins against the Partenopei in Serie A, winning 51 of their 78 such meetings, including each of the last four.
Napoli were beaten 3-0 in their last match by Atalanta, but Inzaghi was quick to point out the positive changes Conte had instilled since taking over.
"Tomorrow's game against Napoli will be a good one," he told a press conference on Saturday.
"We are facing the leaders and coach Conte has already managed to give the team an excellent organisation, which is strong and of high quality."
Inter are coming off a dramatic 1-0 home win over Arsenal in the Champions League, thanks to Hakan Calhanoglu's controversial penalty.
They are now unbeaten in their last nine matches in all competitions, winning each of their last three, but Inzaghi knows hosting the domestic leaders will be a different matter despite their building momentum.
"We know Napoli, they are an organised team who only conceded away goals in their first game. We know their qualities, and we are preparing to have a great match," he said.
"It's too early to talk about the table. It's the 12th game of the championship, there are so many to go. But we know that this game is important for us because it is the last one before the [international] break, and we'll try to do our best."
Napoli not going to San Siro to 'wave the white flag', says Conte
Antonio Conte has no intention of holding anything back when he returns to San Siro, as the top two face off in Serie A on Sunday.
The Italian revived Inter and helped them break Juventus's nine-year stranglehold on the Scudetto, stopping their run in the 2020-21 season to win the title for the first time since their treble-winning campaign in 2009-10.
Now at Napoli, a club that is looking to return to the heights of their 2022-23 title win, Conte's side sit top of Serie A with 25 points after 11 games - a point above Inter ahead of their upcoming clash.
"It's definitely nice to return to where I worked and won. Yes, two happy years," Conte told reporters.
"It was a wonderful experience that I carry within me, like all the past ones that I lived to the fullest."
Napoli's winning run in Serie A came to a grinding halt against Atalanta last weekend when Conte's side were beaten 3-0, and they have a poor recent record against Inter, having won just one of their last 10 Serie A matches against them.
Napoli are looking to avoid suffering two consecutive top-flight losses for the first time since last December, and Conte says he is in no mood to drop three points again.
"The three points is always important, it is inevitable that we face a team that today, for everything they have shown, is the strongest team," Conte added.
"We are not going to San Siro to wave the white flag before starting, but convinced to play our cards. Then we will see what happens. We are preparing in a major way, as we always do.
"It will be an important test, we will measure ourselves against the best, and it will be important to understand our progress. Do not forget that we arrive at the top of the table... and the objective is to remain at the top."
Napoli striker Romelu Lukaku has scored only one goal in his last four games, but when asked about his form, Conte said he was tired of questions about the Belgian striker.
"At every blessed conference, there is always the question about Lukaku. It becomes a bit - not annoying - but we are talking about the team. Lukaku's growth depends on the growth of the team," Conte said.
"But I am confident because I see them every day, they want to work and improve. I see a lot of commitment and I would not reduce it to a single player. It is not fair to the others."
Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw's record-breaking hat-trick powers Manchester City to 4-0 victory Over Tottenham Hotspur Women
Reggae Girl Khadija "Bunny" Shaw delivered a historic performance on Friday, scoring a hat-trick that led Manchester City Women to a dominant 4-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur Women in the Barclays Women's Super League (WSL). Shaw's incredible feat helped City extend their lead at the top of the table, reaching 19 points, four clear of Chelsea, who have played two games fewer.
Shaw, who has now scored seven goals in the league this season, wasted no time asserting her dominance, scoring just moments after kick-off. Bursting through on goal, she slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving City an immediate 1-0 lead. In the 15th minute, Shaw struck again, towering over defenders to head home a looping cross from Lauren Hemp. Tottenham’s goalkeeper and fellow Jamaican, Rebecca Spencer, got a hand to it, but Shaw's powerful header proved unstoppable.
City continued to apply pressure, and in the 66th minute, Jill Roord added to the scoreline. After evading a challenge, Hemp found Roord in the box, who shifted the ball onto her left foot and fired it into the roof of the net, making it 3-0. Just a minute later, Shaw completed her hat-trick. Hemp, instrumental throughout, drove down the byline and delivered a precise cross into the box, where Shaw was perfectly positioned to knock it home.
Shaw's hat-trick set new records in the WSL. She became the first player to record three hat-tricks against the same team and broke her teammate Vivianne Miedema’s record with her sixth career hat-trick in the league.
Facing her fellow Reggae Girlz teammates Drew Spence and Rebecca Spencer, Shaw showed why she is one of the most prolific strikers in the league, continuing to propel Manchester City to the top of the WSL standings with her record-breaking performance.
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