SPURS DEFENDS ALDERWEIRELD’S SLOW RETURN

MAURICIO POCHETTINO has defended his cautious approach over reintegrating Toby Alderweireld into the Tottenham team, warning that people need to be realistic about the Belgian’s recovery from a three-month absence, WRITES JACK PITT-BROOKE.

Alderweireld tore a hamstring playing against Real Madrid on November 1 and did not return until February 7. Although Alderweireld played against Newport County and Rochdale in the FA Cup, Pochettino did not think him fit enough for Spurs’ more demanding games, and he then suffered another minor hamstring injury. He will not play the replay against Rochdaletonight, or against Huddersfield on Saturday, and is a doubt for Juventus next week too.

“He is still recovering, he is not participating with the group,” explained Pochettino, who will also be without defender Jan Vertonghen. “The answer is clear.”

Alderweireld thought himself ready after making his first return, before he was not part of the squad for the Arsenal or Juventus games immediately after his comeback. But Pochettino said that his job meant being cautious with returning players and making unpopular decisions.

“Sometimes people create an expectation,” Pochettino explained. “And then we are the bad guys, when we say ‘no, no, no, you cannot play’ or we start to build your fitness step-by-step. It’s our responsibility, but it’s impossible to explain everything. It’s just to be careful about the player because we want Toby 100pc, ready to play.”

“We don’t take our decisions based on public opinion,” Pochettino explained. Tottenham v Rochdale

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