Antonio Conte press conference: Kulusevski injury update; Man Utd response

Antonio Conte has addressed the media ahead of Tottenham's meeting with Newcastle United on Sunday.

The Magpies are one of the Premier League's in-form teams and Spurs, who were comprehensively beaten by Manchester United in midweek, need an immediate reaction before the pressure starts to turn up on Conte once again.

Here's the highlights of the boss' press conference.

Team news

What's the latest?

"Not news. Deki Kulusevski is not available. I think we have to wait a bit of time to see him with us. It is the same for Richarlison. The other is Emerson, who comes back after a ban. Then we have another training session tomorrow to try to make an evaluation.

"Now to play many games in such a short period, you have to try to check and speak to the players to understand who needs to have a bit of rest to try to avoid injury. We will see tomorrow and then we'll make the best decision for the game on Sunday against Newcastle."

Will Emerson start again now he's back from suspension?

"This is the last problem for me. If this is the only problem for us, I'm happy. This is not a problem. For me to recover [Emerson] is good news. You know very well this role you lose a lot of energy during the game.

"Now Matthew [Doherty] played with the national team and played two games in a row with us and he played the last three Premier League games. To have the possibility to have an alternative, to play Emerson or Doherty, or also I'm waiting to improve Spence. For me it’s important.

"But I repeat Sunday we'll see. We have to play against Newcastle and then after three days we have to play in the Champions League, and then after three days we have to play against Bournemouth and then after three days we have to play Champions League again. Who plays is not a problem. The problem is when they go to play they have to play well."

Dejan Kulusevski

Do you have a natural replacement for Kulusevski in the squad?

"But for sure, when you have Kulusevski injured and Richarlison injured, then also Lucas Moura recovering from a long tendon injury, now he's improving but in my opinion he's not ready to start a game.

"For sure this type of situation creates a big, big difficulty. It’s normal, this. For me, also fingers crossed because at the moment we have Harry and Sonny in good health. I hope they continue to stay that way or I’ll have to think about putting my shoes on to play, me.

"We know with the club the difficulties of the season. Now to complain I think it's not right or fair. When you go to play Champions League, especially if you play in the Premier League, you have to know that you’re going to have a difficult season for injuries, for massive games, for players who become tired.

"Sometimes you can give rest, sometimes you have to force the situation and risk injuries. This situation is part of the process for a club like Tottenham to understand very well the way to face this strong situation, because I think we’re really happy to play Champions League.

"Last season we struggled a lot and fought a lot to make this achievement, but at the same this season you have to know to play Champions League you have to leave something in the road. This is my opinion. We know this. This is not a surprise."

Do you need to sign an alternative in January?

"Now we have to try to finish this period which for us is really tough. You have important injuries and You have to face the situation in the best possible way. Then we'll see. We have to arrive until the last game in November and then with the club we’ll see the situation, if we have to do something or we continue in the same way.

"But now I think we have to be focused to do our best, because this period is not easy. For this reason I ask our fans also to stay very close to us, to push us because also it will be really, really difficult against Newcastle on Sunday."

Are you worried you won't see Kulusevski before the World Cup?

"Yeah because his recovery was going well and then one day the situation worsened. Then when this type of situation happens, you have to restart. You need time, but we have the medical department to face injury situations and they have to solve the situation in a short period because you know if you are good to solve the situation in a short period, it means points in the table."

As he was leaving the conference, Conte confirmed he expects Kulusevski back before the final game of November.

Man Utd defeat

What can you change to respond to the Man Utd loss?

"I watched the game and I think our start wasn't so bad in my opinion, but it was the around the middle of the first half that it was a period where it was really tough and United shoot many times. I think watching the game. The first half wasn't so bad. My first impression was more negative.

"The second half honestly to concede the goal after a few minutes I think this goal killed us. Also when it happens this situation we have to find the right reaction because it can happen, you go down 1-0 and then you have to try to find a way to have a good result and to score goal. Instead in the second half we missed the second half.

"Our reaction was poor, yeah. I was really honest to tell that United deserve to win, to get three points. Then for us every game is important to learn and to learn more especially when you are going to play this type of game – where the level is high – you have to know you have to be ready to fight from the start until the end."

You conceded 28 shots that game and have faced the third-most shots all season, is that a concern?

"Honestly no because also we conceded many shots but outside of the box. Many shots weren’t dangerous but at the same time you have to try to do better in every situation. In the game I think we tried to put a lot of pressure on United, to have high pressure but in this type of game you know you have to be prepared also to suffer.

"Maybe we can manage much better the situation in the period we were suffering. Instead we continue to suffer and discovered the situation finding the best solution. This is the past and now we have to think of the present – the present is another difficult game against Newcastle and we’ll see on Sunday."

Was the Man Utd defeat because of the 3-5-2 formation?

"I don't think we lost the game for the formation. Otherwise, we won the game against Everton because we played 3-5-2. This is only an excuse. If you want to find an excuse, I can find a lot, a lot. I don’t like to find excuses. I think this team at this moment the best situation, with the players available, is to play with the three midfielders. Then we'll see the improvement of Lucas, because when Lucas is available you can play with him and the other two strikers.

"But we have a lot of problems with the players up-front and now we have to cope with this difficult situation. At the same time I don’t want to give my players excuses because you have to be strong in a difficult period, be strong and use this period to become stronger and stronger.

"I want players ready to take the responsibility, especially when the situation is not easy. This way I think you grow a lot and you prepare yourself to be a protagonist in future."