Ahead of Tottenham's trip to Wolves for tomorrow's Premier League fixture, Cristian Stellini faced the media again, as Antonio Conte continues his recovery from gallbladder surgery.
While Spurs' manager has been away and prepares to return to full-time work in just a couple of days, Stellini has enjoyed a fairly productive league run. This has resulted, rather comically, in Conte being nominated for February's Premier League Manager of the Month award.
However, things are not as rosy as that would suggest for the Lilywhites. A midweek FA Cup defeat at Sheffield United ended their most realistic hopes of a long-awaited trophy coming to Hotspur Way and extended their streak of consecutive away losses to three.
Tottenham will also have to try and make up a one-goal deficit during the second leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 meeting with AC Milan, following their defeat in Italy.
Before that, tomorrow's trip to Wolves is a crucial one, as Stellini's team will aim to maintain their current, all-important fourth place in the Premier League.
On team news:
Stellini provided some positive updates regarding player availability ahead of the fixture and the imminent return of Conte:
"We don't have team news; everything is fine, like in the last game. We are ready to play the match with the same squad. Emerson Royal is fit." stated Stellini.
"Antonio will come back this week. Straight after the Wolves game, he will be in London and in charge again from Sunday.
"The medical department decided that the time schedule was one month [after the surgery] and one month is Saturday. So, they asked Antonio to come back on Sunday."
On FA Cup exit:
Tottenham's surprise FA Cup exit at Bramall Lane was the dominant discussion point in the pre-match press conference. Stellini further highlighted his, Conte's and his team's disappointment at the midweek result and discussed why team selection was not the reason for the defeat:
"His [Conte's] thoughts were like everyone's - disappointed. It's difficult to shake off this type of match and result. Maybe the players now know a different face of me, not only the face of Antonio, because it was not a good result and we are all disappointed with that.
"There was a great reaction. My expectation is that tomorrow we will play a different game - the same game we played in the league last week and the week before.
"It is not about the team selection - it is about the mentality, approach and energy you put into the game. We had to be better before the game and not after. You have to feel anger before the game and not after. I don't think this [the defeat] happened because we selected this type of squad, but because we did not approach it well."
On the need to improve the team's mentality and top four hopes:
Stellini went on to suggest that, whether amongst the fanbase, media or the team itself, too much of a focus is being placed on results and potential trophies, instead of improving the team's mentality and erasing the complacency which may have arisen before kick-off in Sheffield:
"We have to react immediately, because that game was not good enough and we do not want to be like this again. We do not want to show this to the fans again; we have to create a good mentality.
"Sometimes, I feel we speak too much about trophies and less about the mentality - we have to work on this aspect every day and fight against ourselves. Because when you approach a game like this, you have to fight against yourself if you think the game and the FA Cup will be easy because eight teams play in the quarter-final and five of them are not in the Premier League."
The Italian was asked whether a top four league finish - resulting in a place in the UEFA Champions League - would constitute a positive season for Spurs, to which Stellini agreed:
"Yeah. You have to believe in that. You have to believe in yourself and you can change the season at any moment, like we did last season."
On Wolves, Lopetegui and Jimenez:
Since Julen Lopetegui's arrival at Wolves, the team has had results improve and now see themselves three points clear of the Premier League's relegation zone.
Ahead of facing the Spaniard and his side, Stellini was very complimentary of Lopetegui and expects a difficult trip for Spurs:
"Lopetegui is an important manager; they [Wolves] have selected a good manager. Since he is in charge, I think they are improving a lot.
"They are doing something different because his mentality is different compared to the last manager. So, we have to expect a difficult game. With a good approach, we think we can challenge them in a good way."
Stellini also heaped significant praise onto Raul Jimenez. Even though the forward is yet to score in the Premier League so far this season, Stellini seems to be an admirer of the Mexican's talent:
"Before he [Jimenez] had the injury, he was one of the top strikers in the world. After some injuries, his pace reduced. In the league, sometimes he had to drop to the bench and wait to perform well.
"At this moment, he has found his game. So, we have to take care of that. He is a striker with great skill."
Tottenham's match at Wolves is scheduled as one of Saturday's 3pm kick-offs. A positive result would go some way towards maintaining their place in the UEFA Champions League for next season and would build some confidence back, ahead of Spurs' upcoming second leg clash against AC Milan in this season's edition of the competition.