Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte has said he and Chelsea counterpart Thomas Tuchel “must accept” any punishment doled out by the Football Association following their fiery clash – but the Italian is expecting to avoid a touchline ban.
Conte remains hopeful that he will be in the dugout for Tottenham’s visit of Wolves on Saturday despite being sent off at the end of a fiery London derby against his former club last weekend.
He and Tuchel argued as Conte celebrated Tottenham’s first equaliser in the 2-2 draw, then clashed again at full-time following Harry Kane’s added-time goal earned the visitors a share of the spoils.
The two managers were hit with an FA charge on Monday and have until Thursday evening to either accept or appeal.
Conte seemed to hint he would accept the charge when asked about it earlier on Thursday: “I see that the FA made us, both coaches, a more soft charge, no? And we have to accept.
“We have to accept and have respect for every decision. But I think sometimes this type of situation can happen. It’s not the first time, it won’t be the last time that two coaches are not in the right way or do not agree.
“But the most important thing is we have to move on, to have respect for each other. And for me, the situation finishes there.”
Unlike when a player is sent off, Conte and Tuchel will not necessarily receive a ban – even if they accept their respective charges.
When asked if was expecting to be on the touchline against Wolves, Conte replied that he was confident he will escape a ban: “I hope so. I think that it’s right.
“It’s right to stay in my place. Then I repeat for sure after this type of situation you can learn a lot but at the same time I think that for many situations I was really good to keep calm and don’t have an excessive reaction in the situation.”
