Spurs’ Sissoko likely to miss Ajax opener
LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur suffered a fresh blow to their Champions League hopes when Moussa Sissoko appeared to be ruled out of the first leg of their semi-final against Ajax.
The midfielder, one of Tottenham’s outstanding players this season, suffered a groin injury in the return leg of the quarter-final tie at Manchester City and Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino believes he will not be fit for another two weeks.
That would rule Sissoko out of the north London club’s home leg against Dutch giants Ajax on April 30, with Tottenham already missing South Korea star Son Heungmin through suspension.
Heung-min has been a key man for Spurs while England captain Harry Kane has been sidelined with an ankle injury.
“Moussa Sissoko is not going to be fit, maybe for the next two weeks, we hope he can recover before but I am not so optimistic,” Pochettino said.
There are also doubts over the fitness of France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, with Pochettino saying: “Lloris I hope yes, we are going to assess, we have a training session and we hope it is not a big issue, we hope he is going to be available.”
Tottenham may have lost to Manchester City in their second game at the Etihad inside 72 hours but they remain firmly in the hunt for a topfour finish in the Premier League after both Arsenal and Manchester United lost as well at the weekend.
If Spurs beat Brighton and West Ham in back-to-back games at their new ground they will be on course for a top-four finish that would qualify them for next season’s Champions League regardless of whether they win this season’s edition of European club football’s elite competition.
“We are not thinking of Ajax,” Pochettino said. “We showed at Manchester City that we are thinking in the today and that competition, the Premier League.”
The Argentinian added: “Now our energy is in Brighton. It is so clear that we have two objectives – one is to be in the top four at the end of the season and the other is to beat Ajax, but we need to go step-by-step.
“The players, they know it, I think the behaviour and the mentality is perfect.”