Antonio Conte has been dealt the first blow of his Tottenham Hotspur managerial career as his side take on Vitesse in the UEFA Europa Conference League this evening...

What's the word?

According to Evening Standard reporter Dan Kilpatrick, the 52-year-old will be without first-team duo Ryan Sessegnon and Bryan Gil as the pair missed training on Wednesday.

They are set to miss this clash, leaving the Italian light on options on the wing, a position that is expected to be pivotal to his system in north London.

"Sessegnon and Gil the only players to miss training yesterday & both out of tonight," he tweeted.

Double setback

This isn't the best of news to kickstart your reign at a struggling side and it's one that he'll have to deal with heading into kickoff.

Spurs were defeated by the Dutch outfit two weeks ago after Nuno Santo opted to leave the majority of his senior stars back in N17, trusting the 'second-string' to start.

A 1-0 defeat and a lack of clear-cut chances was the beginning of the end for him. They then lost to West Ham and Manchester United, where they went 135 minutes without registering a shot on goal.

Gil could hold the keys to being a creative solution for the Lilywhites and in a game like this, he would surely be in contention. The young gem averaged 1.7 crosses and 1.9 key passes per 90 in La Liga last season, via WhoScored.

Only Giovani Lo Celso has managed a better number of chances created per 90 this campaign, whilst the 20-year-old would lead the way for crosses based on last term's exploits.

Meanwhile, Sessegnon's time at the club has been nothing short of a disaster but with Conte expected to deploy wing-backs either side of a three-man defence, he could be in line for a little boost as he offers a lot more than Ben Davies in the attack.

However, his injury woes will be a concern to the new manager as he cannot stay fit - something that is also angering much of the Hotspur faithful. As relayed by This is Futbol, the England U21 international has been described as "pathetic" and a "sick note" in recent weeks.

Whether Conte fields his strongest side tonight or not remains to be seen but he won't be too happy to have walked into what seems like a never-ending mess.

AND in other news, Conte can become an instant hit at Spurs by brutally axing "phenomenal" £26m-rated dud...