Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that he will be forced to ring the changes as his side prepares to play six competitive matches in the next 33 days with midfielder Dele Alli back in contention.
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Spurs host rivals Chelsea in the Carabao Cup tomorrow night in the first match of their next six before November 1.
Mourinho has already hinted that he may not be able to prioritise the Carabao Cup due to the importance of qualifying for Europa League group stage when they face Maccabi Haifa in the play-offs on Thursday.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow night’s Cup clash, Mourinho was asked if he will need to rotate his squad, he said: “If we do that [make changes] and we are going to do that, we know the consequences of it because not every player is the same and not every player has the same group dynamic, because we have clearly a spine and obviously that you lose potential.”
The Portuguese manager went onto acknowledge how unfortunate League Two side Leyton Orient were to be forced to withdraw from the Carabao Cup due to a series of players receiving positive COVID-19 tests, he said: “I think they have to be very, very upset. I think they have to.
“I have total sympathy for them. I don’t think they did anything wrong. They were tested.
“I think they deserve to play against us, no doubts about it.”
Mourinho was also asked if out-of-favour midfielder Dele could be offered a chance to reignite his Spurs career due to his side’s upcoming fixture congestion, the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ said: “Dele is in contention, everybody is in contention apart from Sonny [Son Heung-min due to injury], everybody is in contention.
“But I think you can imagine that with a game on Thursday [Europa League play-off against Maccabi Haifa] that decides a very important thing for us I think the EFL have made the decision for us.
“They didn’t even create us a problem, they made the decision for us, so that is the situation.”
Jose Mourinho on Dele’s response to being dropped & getting a bye vs Leyton Orient.
“The EFL have made the decision for us. They didn’t even create us a problem, they made the decision for us.” ? #COYS pic.twitter.com/Jr0GrJtvXe
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) September 28, 2020