Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Nabil Bentaleb, Alex Pritchard, Nacer Chadli and Erik Lamela will miss tomorrow’s Europa League fixture with Qarabag.
The quartet have failed to recover from their respective injuries, while the trio of Mousa Dembele, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker have been rested for the lengthy trip to Azerbaijan.
Spurs are due to face Premier League champions Chelsea in a London derby on Sunday, and Pochettino underlined the importance of chopping and changing his squad, with fixtures coming thick and fast.
“Nabil is still out, he got a bad tackle during international duty with Algeria and he is out now”, the manager told the club’s official site.
“Alex Pritchard, Nacer Chadli and Erik Lamela are also out and we have rested a few players for this game as well.
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“It has been a very busy period and we need all the squad ready to compete in good condition.
“We need to assess all of the players after every game and make sure we make the best decisions to compete with all of the players in the best condition.”
Several youngsters such as Cameron Carter-Vickers, Shayon Harrison, Josh Onomah and Harry Winks are travelling with the squad for the Group J encounter.
And Pochettino feels providing youngsters with opportunities to perform is important for the club in the long run.
“It is great for the club to be able to give the possibility for young players to play with us and travel with the first team”, he added.
“I think it is fantastic and this is the future of the club. We feel proud about that and it is a very important thing for the club.”
Tottenham, who defeated Qarabag 3-1 in the corresponding fixture at White Hart Lane in September, are currently atop their Europa League group with seven points from four outings.
