Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino insists that he will not be crying over his side’s long list of injured players.
Spurs will play Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus on Tuesday in their second group stage fixture of the UEFA Champions League and will miss midfielder Christian Eriksen after the Dane was ruled out of the game through illness. Eriksen joins Mousa Dembele, Danny Rose, Victor Wanyama and Erik Lamela who are all sidelined with injuries.
Pochettino will also miss the services of Jan Vertonghen and Dele Alli who are suspended for the game against Apoel.
This leaves the former Southampton boss in a bit of a quandary as Spurs have to win the game against the Cypriot club in order to push for a top two finish in their group.
“It’s not an excuse to have some players out of the squad,” Pochettino said.
“Christian is a very important player for us. It’s true we will miss him but we need to move on, we need to find a way to play and perform and try to win.
“He is ill, he stays in London, and we trust the player who comes into his position. I am not a manager who cries because a player cannot play.
“It’s about the team, the squad, quality, effort and we have a very strong squad to try to win.”
19-Year-old Juan Foyth is expected to start in defence, allowing Spurs to go with a back three, and pushing Eric Dier further up the midfield to partner either Moussa Sissoko or Harry Winks.
Despite Spurs’ struggle with injuries, they remain favourites to win the tie against a side that lost 3-0 to Real Madrid earlier this month.
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