Tottenham Hotspur's assistant manager Cristian Stellini said he is confident he and Antonio Conte have long term futures at the club despite their contracts running out at the end of the season.

Stellini faced the press in the absence of Lilywhites boss Antonio Conte, who was mourning the recent passing of former Juventus team mate Gianluca Vialli.

Paying tribute to the legendary Italian, Stellini said that Vialli was a 'great player and a great man'.

Spurs, who have not won the FA Cup since 1991, face Portsmouth in the third round of the tournament at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

Ahead of the tie, Stellini answered questions on his future at the club, the fitness of Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, the January transfer window and the FA Cup.

  • On his future

Stellini addressed the tense atmosphere around the club in recent weeks, with boos audible around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Spurs were beaten 0-2 by Aston Villa last weekend.

The 47-year-old said the team need to work together to push through the challenging period and said he respected the supporters' disappointment with their last home performance.

He also referred to their impressive 0-4 away win against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night as the perfect example of what Tottenham are capable of.

"I think we need togetherness in this type of situation and we are proud to be together to work, we need to be compact and we can't argue with the fans.

"We have to show the fans we are ready to play tough games and to play well like we did against Crystal Palace."

Despite recent pressure on Conte's position in charge at Tottenham, Stellini went on to say that he believes his stay at Spurs is far from over.

"We are always confident on this [his and Conte's future at Spurs beyond this season], and it's not about the contract, it's about the project and the future and we are confident every time.

"I think after 15 months, which is not a big period, we are in the way we expect and for that reason we are confident.

"We are in the right place after 15 months, if we compare ourselves in this time period to other jobs in the past, we are in a good moment, we need to work hard and be passionate like Antonio [Conte] has said many times.

"It's not the time left on the contract that decides the result, it's the work that you do, and we are confident that we will stay here a long time because we are working hard and the players follow us."

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  • On Kulusevski and Bentancur

The Lilywhites have struggled with injuries to key payers lately, and with Kulusevski and Bentancur missing in recent games, Spurs will be hoping the former Juventus players can be fit as soon as possible.

Tottenham face rivals Arsenal in a mammoth North London Derby clash next weekend, and whilst Stellini did not have much to say about the absentees, he implied one of the two could be fit to face The Gunners.

"We hope so, we are working hard and next week probably someone could be available for the match against Arsenal."

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  • On the January transfer window

Tottenham have mainly been linked with Sporting Lisbon's Pedro Porro in the January transfer window, but securing a deal this month is proving tough for the North London club according to Fabrizio Romano.

When asked about any potential signings to bolster the squad, Stellini was keen to place emphasis on the players he already has access to.

"I'm not the right person to speak about the transfer market, my business is to improve the players we have in the squad with training and matches.

"I think it's better to speak about the players we have in the squad and not the players we can sign in the future."

The Italian also confirmed that Bryan Gil will not be leaving the club on loan this window after an impressive performance in midweek against The Eagles.

"I think [he will stay], we could [loan him out] but he's playing very well and we are so happy because he's another player that we work with a lot and he has improved greatly, because he gives 110% in training every day.

"He puts all of his energy into it every day and this is why he deserved to play an important match with an assist [against Crystal Palace], it was a great match for him."  

  • On the FA Cup

The story around Spurs' trophy woes is well known.

Their last piece of silverware was won in 2008 with victory in the Carabao Cup, but Tottenham fans have been desperate for a success ever since.

Their record in the latter stages of the FA Cup has been nothing short of appalling in recent years, in fact The Lilywhites have lost all of their last eight FA Cup semi finals, including one against Saturday's opponents Portsmouth in 2010.

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As a trophy Stellini said he admires, he will be hoping to end the wait for a trophy amongst the Spurs faithful with an FA Cup this campaign.

"First of I want to say I think the FA Cup is a dream for us and for me, because when I was a player I was not always in the top leagues, and so my dream was to see the FA Cup, because it allows a lower league team the opportunity to challenge for a top trophy.

"In Italy we don't have the chance to do it and I haven't [had that chance] when I was a player, so it was a dream for me to learn from this type of situation in England.

"I know the desire of teams like Portsmouth tomorrow and Morecambe last season and how important it is for them to play this type of match and so we have to respect this and show our desire.

"For that reason the FA Cup is an important trophy to try to win, we have spoken about this a lot of times and we need to show our respect in the game."

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