Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte is expected to return to London ahead of their upcoming fixture in the Premier League against Leicester City.

What’s the latest?

The Italian was not on the sidelines during the impressive win on the weekend against Manchester City as he remained at his Italian home recovering from his recent illness.

Indeed, the 53-year-old was advised to take it easy and stay at home for the game on Sunday after undergoing surgery which saw his gallbladder removed last week.

But speaking on his YouTube channel, journalist Alasdair Gold has admitted it was a close call as to whether Conte would have been able to return for the game on Sunday.

And with this in mind, Gold believes the Italian will return at some stage this week for the game on Saturday against the Foxes but he may choose to avoid the pre-game press conference at Hotspur Way:

(24:00) “We don’t know when he’ll return from Italy now. You’d think he’ll be back for the Leicester game. You would think that [given] it was a close enough call, I think for yesterday’s [Sunday’s] game, I think it was on a Saturday night quite late, the decision was made that he wasn’t going to come.

“So you’d think that that would put in place for him to be back for the Leicester game. I don’t know whether we’ll get him for the press conference on Thursday.”

Set to return

It has certainly been a difficult season for the Italian off the field having lost a number of close friends – including Tottenham’s Gian Piero Ventrone.

And now he has been hit by illness himself which has seen him forced out of action at Hotspur Way and resting back in his home in Italy.

However, the Lilywhites more than faired without the 53-year-old on the sideline over the weekend after Cristian Stellini guided them to an impressive victory over Manchester City.

But his absence may have been a big factor in the decision not to give the club’s deadline day signing, Pedro Porro, his debut against his former side.

Since making the move to north London, the Spanish right wing-back has not taken part in a training session led by Conte after his illness was announced the day after Porro signed.

So it may have been decided the safer option was to play Emerson Royal until Conte can have his first look at Porro with plenty of games coming up in the next few weeks for Spurs.

Although Stellini and the other coaching staff have clearly done an excellent job leading up to the game against City, it will likely be a huge boost to have Conte back at Hotspur Way.

The victory on the weekend has narrowed the gap to the top four and they have a massive Champions League trip to face AC Milan to consider next week so his experience could prove vital over the coming days.