Tottenham Hotspur interim manager Cristian Stellini has lamented the "very sad" resignation of sporting director Fabio Paratici but insisted that the Italian's departure will not affect Spurs' preparations for the weekend.
The 52-year-old stepped down from his post on Friday morning after failing with an appeal against his 30-month worldwide ban from all footballing activities.
Paratici was one of several ex-Juventus chiefs implicated in the recent scandal over false accounting and financial mismanagement, leading to a ban from Italian footballing activities back in January.
Last month, FIFA extended Paratici's punishment to a worldwide suspension; the 50-year-old stepped back from his Spurs duties as a result, and he unsuccessfully lodged an appeal to the Italian Olympic Committee.
While expressing his sympathies to Paratici and his family, Stellini insisted that his compatriot's departure was "not a shock", and Tottenham will prepare for Sunday's match with Newcastle United as normal.
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"No, this has not affected preparations because Fabio was far from here for a couple of weeks, so nothing changes in this situation," football.london quotes Stellini as saying at his pre-game press conference.
"But humanly we're very close to Fabio, all of us. It was a tough period for him and now the final result is very sad for everyone, for him and his family. Humanly we're very close to him. The club made a statement and this is all that I can say.
"It's a tough moment so I want to be close humanly with him. All my heart is with him but it's a tough moment so you can understand this period is tough.
"I repeat this is not affecting what's happening on the pitch because we're professional and it's been a couple of wees that Fabio was not here. So it's not a shock, we are well prepared."
Stellini oversaw the arrivals of numerous players during his short-lived time at the helm, including Barcelona loanee Clement Lenglet, who was withdrawn injured in the first half of last week's defeat to Bournemouth and replaced by Davinson Sanchez.
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Sanchez was subsequently taken off himself after being booed by his own fans, but Stellini expects Lenglet to train fully on Saturday, while Ben Davies is also close to returning from a hamstring problem.
"So and so. We are trying to have Lenglet 100 per cent. He train, he train with us, is not 100 per cent but we are confident Lenglet tomorrow can train for the full session," Stellini added.
"In this moment it is only a part but from tomorrow we are confident Lenglet is good. We have Ben Davies back in training, in a part of training only so maybe not ready to play a match but we are close to recover Ben."
Should Lenglet and Davies both be passed fit for Sunday, Tottenham will be working without five players in Rodrigo Bentancur (knee), Yves Bissouma (ankle), Emerson Royal (knee) and Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) alongside the suspended Lucas Moura.
Victory on Sunday would take the fifth-placed Lilywhites level on points with Newcastle United in the final Champions League spot, although the Magpies will still have a game in hand.
Ben Knapton
