Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that Toby Alderweireld, Danny Rose and Harry Kane will miss the FA Cup clash with Wycombe this weekend.
Spurs host their Wycombe at White Hart Lane on Saturday, before they return to Premier League duty on Tuesday with a trip to Sunderland.
Naturally, the Premier League outfit are favourites heading into their cup clash, and while Pochettino will be desperate to avoid an upset, he’ll be confident enough to rotate and allow certain individuals more time to recover from injuries.
“Toby, Danny (knee) and Kane (groin) are out. We don’t want to take any risks but they’ll hopefully be available for Tuesday,” Pochettino told the media at his press conference on Thursday, as reported by Sky Sports.
Rose and Alderweireld picked up minor problems in the draw with Manchester City last weekend, while Kane will not be risked either after picking up a groin issue.
It’s a sensible move from Pochettino as ultimately he has enough quality and depth in his squad to avoid having to risk key players, as the Premier League title race should take precedence.
Meanwhile, he also provided more injury news as he placed a 3-4 week timeline on Jan Vertonghen’s comeback, while Erik Lamela will return to training on Friday after being permission to return to Rome to continue his recovery.
“Vertonghen is much better but probably 3-4 weeks more. Lamela will come back training with us tomorrow & we’ll assess him again.”
As shown against City, Spurs have plenty of character and resolve to respond to adversity, and they’ll need plenty more of that with the fixture list becoming even busier next month with the return of European football.