Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has stated that he does not expect to be sacked by the North London club.
Conte, who has been Tottenham manager since November 2021, has a contract with the club until the end of the season.
Although Spurs have the option of activating a one-year extension, there is a belief that Conte will leave his position in the summer.
However, the 51-year-old claimed that he could be sacked before the summer, following the club's Champions League exit at the hands of AC Milan.
Speaking after the second leg of their last-16 tie, Conte told Italian TV: "My contract expires in June. We will see - they might sack me even before the end of the season, who knows, maybe they are disappointed."
Spurs responded to their Champions League elimination by cruising to a 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest last weekend.
They are currently preparing for Saturday's away trip to Southampton, and in his pre-match press conference, Conte was asked whether he still feared being sacked.
Conte said: "[My comment] was a provocation, you understand, about my future. A provocation, a joke, 'una battuta'.
"When you tell something, to joke. You [the media] asked me about the future and I said to you that you don't know what happens. Because maybe the club can sack me.
"But I repeat: I don't think the club is thinking this. The club sees every day what me and my staff, we are doing for this club. It was only an answer about my future."
The Italian was also questioned as to whether he has received assurances from the Spurs hierarchy about his position.
Conte replied: "I think there is not one club that can tell the manager, 'You stay here until the end of the season'.
"Football is really strange. you don't know what happens tomorrow. But I repeat: in my opinion, we try in every moment to do everything, me and my staff.
"And I think the club appreciates this. Because if you continue to ask me if I sign a new contract, it means that maybe the club appreciates what we are doing, the work that we doing, in this one year and a half."
Spurs head into the weekend in fourth position, but they are only four points clear of fifth-placed Newcastle United, who have two games in hand.
