Tottenham boss Conte slams 'very strange' Arsenal postponement | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte says the Premier League's decision to postpone the north London derby against Arsenal was 'very strange'.

Spurs were due to host their fierce rivals on Sunday, but Arsenal successfully pulled out of the match.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta cited "Covid, injuries and players away with their countries at AFCON" as reasoning for the postponement.

And Conte has questioned why the decision was made if injuries and international call-ups are being taken into account.

"The club made a statement and I think the club expressed our disappointment about the decision," said Conte. "It was for sure a strange decision.

"My feeling is that when there is a situation to play, we have to play and not postpone games for injuries or for international duty.

"We have a big problem to solve with Covid but only about this situation can you decide to postpone.

"This is the first time in my life - and I have a bit of experience in football - to see this decision. In this way, anything can happen."

He continued: "It's not simple to prepare the game in every aspect, then arrive to play the game and it's postponed for strange reasons.

"Tottenham was dropped off the Conference League because the Premier League didn't want to move the game against Leicester. After the request of Leicester, they postponed. But Tottenham was dropped by UEFA. This is very strange.

"In this situation there is a big disappointment for us, especially as we love football and worked a lot to try to play this competition. It's very difficult to accept this decision.

"It was a big damage to Tottenham from the Premier League. You have to try to protect your team in Europe and they penalised us in a bad way.

"We are working and we like to do this, but I think they have to show respect for our job."