Antonio Conte admits he could leave Tottenham before end of season

Antonio Conte has admitted he could be dismissed from his post before the end of the season after his Tottenham side were eliminated from the Champions League following a tepid performance against Milan that leaves them facing a 15th successive season without silverware.

Cristian Romero was sent off in the second half as Spurs laboured against a Milan side who arrived in north London with a slim advantage from the first leg but never looked likely to surrender it. Tottenham managed only two shots on target all night, with Harry Kane coming closest to finding the breakthrough in injury time when his header was saved by Mike Maignan.

Conte was back in the dugout for the first time since the 1-0 defeat in Italy last month as he continued his recovery from surgery to remove his gallbladder. But after a week where Tottenham lost to Wolves and were also knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship side Sheffield United, Conte admitted that there are no guarantees he will remain at the club next season.

“I’m under contract at Tottenham, then we will decide at the end of the season with the club,” he told Italian broadcasters Prime.

“My contract expires in June, we will see – they might sack me even before the end of the season. Perhaps the expectations were higher and they may be disappointed? What matters for a coach is trying to work and raise the bar. This year we are struggling to raise the bar.”

Conte has now taken charge of six Champions League campaigns as a manager but only reached the quarter-finals on one occasion – with Juventus in 2013. But having failed to reach an agreement over an extension after he held preliminary discussions with Daniel Levy at the end of last year, the 53-year-old was disappointed with