Tottenham Hotspur had their match against Leicester City postponed as both teams dealt with a COVID-19 outbreak, preventing them from putting forth a competitive squad.
Their matchup against Liverpool appears to be all systems go despite The Reds having three positive cases. Ahead of the matchup, manager Antonio Conte conducted a training session Friday.
However. as the Daily Mail relayed, the Italian tactician has resorted to using mannequins to conduct training due to the lack of numbers in his squad. COVID-19 had hit multiple players, coaching staff, and its Under 23 players.
“For three days, we didn’t have a training session, and then we had a training session with only 10, 12 players,” Conte said. “It wasn’t easy to face this situation and to train the players. To have 12 players is very difficult.”
“Usually, if you want to try a formation, you need 20 players, and it’s not simple to do this. You have to train with mannequins, and I stopped. It’s not easy. It’s not the same.”
Conte also stated that despite having some players return from their COVID-19 diagnosis. The 52-year-old understands that he can’t give them the usual workload to prepare for a matchup.
“You have to pay great attention,” the Spurs boss said. ‘You can’t give them the same amount of work as other players. If you want everything too soon, you risk injuries. In this situation, you have to take the risk and, at the same time, pay great attention.
“They need time to be fit. The Spurs manager closed out by stating that he would like his players to be vaccinated, but Conte understands the decision to do so is a personal one and will leave it up to his players.”
Conte stated that he would like for his players to be vaccinated to avoid this situation as much as possible in the future. However, Conte understands that getting vaccinated is personal and won’t push his players.
“Every single person at Tottenham or at other clubs has to take the decision for himself,” Conte said. “I’ve been vaccinated, and my family, my daughter, and wife, they did the same. But it is a personal matter.”