Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has admitted he was sad for Jan Vertonghen after he substituted him early on in the second half against Southampton.
The Belgian defender was withdrawn in the 54th minute of the FA Cup fourth round replay, with Mourinho replacing him with Gedson Fernandes as he looked to try and turn the tide in the game, with Southampton the better side for long periods in north London.
The score was 1-1 when Vertonghen was substituted, after Shane Long had cancelled out an early own goal from Jack Stephens, but Southampton had created the better chances as they looked to try and make their dominance count against Spurs.
And Mourinho has admitted that it was a tactical change, rather than it being any injury for Vertonghen.
The Belgian cut a frustrated figure as he made his way off the pitch, leaving the field near his own goal before walking around to the dugout, where he was greeted with a handshake from Mourinho, before taking his seat behind his head coach.
And Mourinho has moved to explain the reason for "sacrificing" Vertonghen.
“No injury, it was my decision. It's normal that he's sad. No player likes to come out," he said, speaking in his post-match press conference.
"I did that with [Eric] Dier against Olympiacos. Even worse because it was in the first half. In the second half I had a feeling in the first half that I needed to change to a back four. It was just a question of waiting for the right moment to bring on Dele, because Dele was a big question mark.
"Like a chess game with no bishops or kings, no queens. Missing so many pieces, it was very, very hard with so many injuries and problems. No [Steven] Bergwijn.
"I had to change and I decided to leave [Japhet] Tanganga and Toby [Alderweireld], a bit faster and better to cope with space.
"I sacrificed Jan. So sad yes, and with a reason to be sad, but happy now because we won.”
Goals from Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min sealed a 3-2 win for Spurs, after Danny Ings had given Southampton the lead in the second half.
