Tottenham Hotspur’s Erik Lamela could feature against Leicester City this week.
Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has told Football.London that winger Erik Lamela is in contention for Tuesday’s trip to face Leicester City.
Spurs endured a frustrating weekend, as they were held to a 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion, with Harry Kane’s equaliser cancelling out an opener from Salomon Rondon.
It was a mixed week for Spurs, having lost at Arsenal before beating Borussia Dortmund, and Pochettino is now looking for a response after Saturday’s disappointing draw.
Spurs travel to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City, and Pochettino may have some good news on the horizon with Erik Lamela working his way back to fitness.
A 2013 summer signing from Roma, Lamela had struggled to fulfil his potential in his first two seasons with Tottenham, but he gradually developed into an important part of Pochettino’s style of play thanks to his pressing ability.
Unfortunately, the Argentinian has been ruled out since October 2016, and has faced a lengthy recovery spell, with a return finally on the cards for the 25-year-old.
Now, Pochettino has told Football.London that Lamela is in contention to face Leicester, having told the Spurs boss after training today that he is ready to play if needed – but Pochettino preached caution after so long out of action.
Pochettino added that Lamela isn’t exactly like a new signing when asked if his return will impact Tottenham’s transfer plans and save them money, but feels his return is hugely important ahead of a busy period of games.
“Very good news because he is in contention for tomorrow,” said Pochettino. “It’s because after the training today he felt good and said ‘Ok I am ready to move on and be available if you want’. I think it’s so important because we have a very busy schedule ahead. Always to have Erik available to help the team is so important. After one year we need to stay calm with him. He’s so important for the team because he’s one player more with different qualities to help the team in different situations during the game. It’s true we cannot expect too much now, only to be happy. He will be involved again tomorrow in a competition. We hope that he will be important for us in the future.”
“No, never doubts. We trusted in our medical staff and him that he’s a very competitive player, always focused on his recovery. It’s true that after a year it’s difficult for a player to be fit and find the feelings in the competition when it’s an injury for long term. Always it’s not easy and the expectations need to be low. Maybe similar to Danny Rose, after ten months or year it’s similar. You need to provide them the time to be fit and feel again the competition. With Lamela there’s no pressure on him, only to feel he’s a player in the competition again.”
“But it’s not a new player eh? He’s been four and half years here. He’s not new. It’s a tricky, tricky question. He’s not a new signing. Of course he’s going to help us, but I think it’s so important because we have massive, busy schedule in the future and it’s always important to have a player with his quality to help the team,” he added.
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