Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that he will be making a host of changes for the EFL Cup game against West Ham this evening, but insists that his side will remain competitive.
Spurs will face West Ham for the second time in 11 days when they take the trip across the capital to the London Stadium as both teams meet in the fourth round EFL Cup clash.
Pochettino’s men registered a 1-0 win over their city rivals in the Premier League, but have struggled to knit together a few results since the draw and have lost against PSV Eindhoven and Manchester City respectively.
Manuel Pellegrini says that his side will be taking the EFL Cup seriously this year and Pochettino has quickly followed suit by suggesting something similar ahead of the derby.
Pochettino admitted that he will be forced to make a few changes, but the Argentine insisted that Spurs will remain competitive in spite of the rotation.
"We are going to use players that normally are not involved in the last few games and, of course, we are going to have the opportunity to see them and give the opportunity to play”, Pochettino was quoted as saying by the BBC.
"Will be very competitive, it is a derby.
“Of course there are no excuses, no complaints and on Wednesday [we will be] ready again to compete and try to win."
Tottenham could be boosted by the return of Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen after both players made a second half appearance off the bench during the 1-0 loss to Manchester City on Monday.
But it remains to be seen if Pochettino will risk either player.
