Mauricio Pochettino says that Nabil Bentaleb is a lucky player after the Algerian escaped without serious injury from a horror challenge on international duty.
The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder played his first football since late August – and a nagging ankle problem – when he appeared in two World Cup qualifying matches against Tanzania, the second of which was on Tuesday.
Bentaleb had come on as a half-time substitute in the first but he was forced off in the 36th minute of the second after what Pochettino described as a “very, very bad tackle”. There was fury at Tottenham when the club’s management saw footage of the challenge.
Pochettino has ruled him out of Sunday’s Premier League derby at home to West Ham United but, as he said that the damage was not too bad, he hoped Bentaleb could be available for Thursday’s long-haul Europa League fixture against Qarabag in Azerbaijan or the home game against Chelsea three days later.
Pochettino will be particularly keen to have Bentaleb available against Qarabag as he would ideally like to leave a few of his regulars at home in London, with an eye on the Chelsea game.
“If you see it, you will see that it was a very, very bad tackle,” Pochettino said. “It was to the same ankle that has kept him out this season. He was lucky and we were lucky that it’s not a big issue. Maybe for Qarabag or Chelsea, he will be available.
“We feel sorry for Nabil because he was very close to being able to compete in the week that we played Arsenal before the international break. We agreed that it would be a good opportunity for him to compete again if he went away with his national team. This is one step back for him. It is difficult for him to be available for Sunday.”
