No excuses for under-strength Spurs, says Pochettino

MAURICIO POCHETTINO has warned there can be no excuses as Tottenham arrived in Cyprus without six of their first-choice XI, including creator-in-chief Christian Eriksen. The Dane did not travel after falling sick yesterday, and his absence stretched a squad already without Dele Alli and Jan Vertonghen, both suspended, and injured trio Mousa Dembele, Victor Wanyama and Danny Rose. It exerted pressure on a fixture Spurs are expected to win against Cypriot champions APOEL, and Pochettino is desperate to add three more points after a 3-1 victory against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. Next up in Group H for the Londoners is a double-header against holders Real Madrid. ‘Christian is a very important player for us,’ said Pochettino. ‘It’s true we will miss him but we need to move on. We need to find a way to play and perform and try to win. He is ill, he stays in London and we trust the player who will come into his position. I am not a manager who cries because a player cannot play. ‘It is key to win and there are no excuses. We have a strong squad and this is a good opportunity to show it. We started well against Borussia Dortmund and this is so important. It’s so important for our future in the Champions League to get the three points.’ APOEL can be stubborn opponents in Nicosia but Tottenham believe they are learning lessons in the Champions League, after crashing out at the group stage last year. ‘The main thing was that you have to be totally prepared for the team you are up against,’ said left back Ben Davies. ‘You cannot play the same way against every opponent. It’s a totally different level of football and we have to be able to adjust. ‘We can’t always go gung-ho like maybe we do in the Premier League. Last season it didn’t go quite to plan but we want to show people we can compete at this level and our performance against Dortmund was excellent. We were a lot more solid and patient. ‘This is a chance to come here, take all three points and put ourselves in a really good position.’