Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the press on Friday ahead of his side’s Premier League clash against Huddersfield Town at their new stadium on Saturday lunchtime.
Spurs come into the clash against the already-relegated Terriers on the back of a 1-0 Champions League quarter-final first-leg win against Manchester City in midweek, as they continue their quest for a top-four finish.
The club confirmed via their official Twitter account before the conferene that Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Erik Lamela and Serge Aurier will all miss out against Jan Siewert’s men, while Dele Alli faces a late fitness test to see whether he is able to feature after suffering a broken hand.
Without further ado here are the two most important things Pochettino said.
Harry Kane injury
Firstly the Argentine spoke about Kane’s issue, and he said (via Football.London at 13:46pm): “He feels sad and disappointed like everyone at the club and of course it is a tough moment for him, tough moment for the team, tough moment for us.
I was speaking to him before and we need to assess every day to properly answer to see when he can come back to train with the team.
Asked when he could return he added (via Football.London at 13:52pm): “At the moment it is impossible to give a date. It is a similar injury to the one he suffered last time against Manchester United. We have five weeks. If we are into the final of the Champions League, maybe he will play but we’ll see.”
A huge blow, but not a surprising one. Having seen how quickly Kane has bounced back from injury previously there is still some hope for Tottenham supporters that they might still see the 25-year-old again this term.
Dele Alli update
Meanwhile, despite the club not ruling Alli out for Saturday his manager certainly didn’t give the impression that he will feature, as per The Guardian.
Pochettino said: “I am not too optimistic. It is very painful. He broke his hand in two parts. Yesterday he saw the specialist. I am more optimistic for him to be available for Manchester City in the second leg.”
That is certainly not an ideal situation for the north London outfit to be in – especially if Alli does miss out – but they will of course take some solace from the fact that they are facing the bottom team at home and should still be able to secure the three points.
Having him available for the City return leg is arguably more important right now anyway.
