Tottenham boss Antonio Conte says he will be emotional as he returns to old club Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg (Wednesday 19:45 GMT).
Conte, who was appointed by Spurs in November, managed Chelsea from 2016 to 2018, winning the Premier League and FA Cup, and returns for the first time.
“I spent two amazing seasons, I created a lot of friendships at the club,” Conte said.
“I thank Chelsea because they gave me the possibility to work in England.”
The Italian added: “Now, I’m the manager of Tottenham and I want to give this club 100% and more to try to improve the team.
“It’ll be good and for sure I’ll have emotion to come back to Stamford Bridge.”
Spurs have fresh Covid-19 concerns, but Conte, who was waiting for the results of some of his players’ tests, did not say who could miss out.
Cristian Romero, Ryan Sessegnon (both hamstring) and Steven Bergwijn (calf) are all injured.
Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku could return, after apologising for an interview saying he was not happy at the club.
He was dropped for Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Liverpool but returned to training after talks with boss Thomas Tuchel.
Trevoh Chalobah is out injured and fellow-centre back Andreas Christensen is a doubt, but striker Timo Werner could feature after a few weeks out.
“Timo trained yesterday,” said Tuchel on Tuesday. “We have one more session to go and he feels much better, which is a really good sign.
“He took part in full training, at full intensity and had no reaction at all. If today’s training goes well for him, then we will look to have him on the bench and maybe give him some minutes.”
The second leg of the tie is on Wednesday, 12 January at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the winner facing Arsenal or Liverpool in the final.
