Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte will make his second return from gallbladder surgery for next week's Champions League last-16 second leg with AC Milan in North London.
The Italian was forced to go under the knife to have the organ removed after experiencing severe abdominal pain at the end of January, leaving Cristian Stellini in charge of first-team duties.
However, Conte only missed one game - February's 1-0 win over Manchester City - before making a quicker-than-expected return for the 4-1 loss to Leicester City on February 11.
A return to San Siro also ended in despair for Conte, who saw his side go down 1-0 to Milan in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, but he admitted that he had not fully recovered from his procedure and was advised to remain in Italy following a health check.
During the second phase of Conte's recovery, Stellini has been left to oversee wins over Chelsea and West Ham United in the Premier League, as well as Wednesday's defeat to Sheffield United in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
© Reuters
Despite his absence from the touchline, Conte - who oversaw operations from his home in Italy - has been nominated for the Premier League's Manager of the Month award for February, where he is up against Marco Silva and Erik ten Hag.
Stellini was unsurprisingly asked for an update on his compatriot in Friday's press conference, but the Spurs assistant conceded that Conte would not be back for Saturday's trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Instead, Conte is expected to be back in the UK on Sunday and will be back on the touchline for next Wednesday's visit of Milan.
"Straight after the match against Wolves he'll be in London and in charge again from Sunday," Stellini told the media, as quoted by The Athletic.
"This (timing) is a question for the medical department. They decided the time schedule was one month after surgery is Saturday, so he'll come back on Sunday."
© Reuters
Prior to Wednesday's cup exit at the hands of the Blades, Stellini had won each of his first five games in charge of Tottenham as interim manager, but he admitted that he showed a "different face" to his players after the loss at Bramall Lane.
"Everyone was disappointed and it's difficult to shake off this type of match and result. Maybe the players now know a different face of me also because it was not a good result. We have to react immediately. That game was not good enough," Stellini added.
"It's not about the team selection, it's about the approach, mentality and the energy you put into the game. We have to better before the game and not after. If you feel anger after the game, it's too late."
Tottenham are once again coping without Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur, Hugo Lloris and Ryan Sessegnon for the trip to Wolves, but Emerson Royal has recovered from a knock and is available.
The Lilywhites are sitting pretty in fourth place in the Premier League table thanks to their back-to-back wins over West Ham and Chelsea, four points better off than Newcastle United, who have two games in hand.
Ben Knapton
