Tottenham Team News: Pochettino Confirms 3 Key Man Are Doubts To Face Monaco

Tottenham Hotspur will look to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League when they take on Monaco at the Stade Louis II on Tuesday night.

Ahead of the game, Mauricio Pochettino has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference this evening and he’s given reporters a team news and injury update.

The Argentinean coach confirmed that the club will have to assess three of their key players with Spurs ready to hand late fitness tests to Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Mousa Dembele.

Kane has only recently returned from a lengthy lay-off with a serious ankle injury and completed the full ninety minutes during a dramatic 3-2 win over West Ham on Saturday evening.

Alli has been struggling with a knee injury which kept him out of the Arsenal game earlier this month while he was only named on the bench for the win over the Hammers at White Hart Lane at the weekend.

Dembele has been hampered by a niggling foot problem for several weeks and after making his comeback against Arsenal two weeks ago, he was withdrawn in the 72nd minute against West Ham as Pochettino tries to protect his Belgian midfielder.

The Spurs boss has confirmed that all three will be assessed ahead of tomorrow night’s crucial Champions League clash with Monaco but he insists he won’t take any unnecessary risks with his key men.

Pochettino is quoted as saying by the Mirror:

“It’s clear that tomorrow is the most important game,”

“Our selection for tomorrow will be if the players that are fit or not, that can play 90 minutes or not.

“We need to assess Harry Kane, Mousa Dembele and Dele Alli, if they can play 90 minutes and don’t take any risks that can affect for the next games.

“We have one day less than Monaco to recover because they play Friday, we play Saturday. Today is a very important day to assess and see if the players are fully recovered to play tomorrow.”

I’m sure Pochettino will give the trio every chance to prove their fitness as the north Londoners desperately need a win to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League and they are already without Toby Alderweireld and Erik Lamela.

Tottenham currently sit third in Group E on just 4 points from their first four games and with second-placed Bayer Leverkusen two points better off, Spurs would need a win tomorrow night to stay alive if the Germans beat CSKA Moscow in Russia.