Mauricio Pochettino is confident that Toby Alderweireld’s knee injury is “not a big issue” and the Tottenham Hotspur manager even suggested the defender may be back in contention for selection next week.
Pochettino is expected to replace Alderweireld with Eric Dier in the middle of his back four against Bayer Leverkusen here in Champions League Group E on Tuesday night. But he offered an upbeat bulletin on the Belgian international, who hurt himself on Saturday during the 1-1 Premier League draw at West Bromwich Albion after taking an accidental kick from his central defensive partner, Jan Vertonghen, after a corner.
It appears that Alderweireld was caught on a nerve in the knee, which made the knock extremely painful. But the hope is that the full results of the scan, which he underwent on Monday, will reveal nothing serious and the club have also pointed out that it was a good sign the Belgian was able to walk out of The Hawthorns under his own steam.
“We need to wait for the scan but we believe it’s not a big issue,” Pochettino said. “He got a knock on his leg but it was better yesterday and today. In the moment he went down, it was tough and, from our position, it was difficult to see what had happened. But it wasn’t a big issue. It was a big knock, a heavy knock in his leg, but we hope it’s not a big problem for the next week.”
Pochettino replaced Alderweireld with Dier at West Brom, after the player who he has converted into a defensive midfielder had started on the bench. Victor Wanyama has established himself as Pochettino’s first choice in the holding-midfield role and the manager’s switch to a 4‑1‑4‑1 formation appears to have made it difficult for him to start Dier and Wanyama in midfield.
Kevin Wimmer, who stepped into the centre of defence last season when Vertonghen was injured, will be bitterly disappointed if Pochettino does prefer Dier. Wimmer has made only one appearance for Tottenham this season – in the EFL Cup win against Gillingham. But Pochettino, who indicated that a game of this magnitude would come too soon for the 18-year-old centre-half Cameron Carter-Vickers, said that he had faith in Dier.
“The important thing is we trust in him,” Pochettino said. “It’s not important the position he will play. Midfield, centre-back or full-back – we believe and trust in him. We trust him as a person and his skills. For me, Eric is a player who can develop his game in different positions.”
Pochettino continues to be without the striker Harry Kane because of ankle ligament damage and, at various times this season, he has missed other key players – chief among them, the midfielder Mousa Dembélé. But Tottenham have coped because, Pochettino believes , they have a deeper and sturdier squad.
“Injuries can always happen,” Pochettino said. “Always, the squad is important – 25 players. The competition between them is important. That’s the power of the team. Everyone believes he can play and fight for his place in the starting XI in different competitions. If we want to achieve big things, it’s important to keep that mentality in our squad.”
Tottenham opened their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 defeat against Monaco at Wembley but they bounced back to win 1-0 away against CSKA Moscow. Pochettino now sees the away-and-home fixtures against Leverkusen as decisive.
“We must win this game against Leverkusen,” he said. “If we want to go to the next round, it is key to take three points from this game, and then to play against them at Wembley in the same way. The next two games against Leverkusen hold the key to the next round.”
