Spurs ace facing three-game ban
NEIL’S FRIENDLY FIRE
ALEX NEIL has warned former team-mate Garry Monk not to expect any favours when he takes his Norwich team to Leeds in the League Cup tonight.
The pair have been friends since they were at Barnsley in 2004 but Neil says their friendship will count for nothing when the whistle blows.
Neil said: “It was so long ago that I even had hair then! He moved on to Swansea while I went back ® Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero received a three-game suspension in September for using his elbow on West Ham’s Winston Reid.
Spurs’ £30m midfielder will now miss tonight’s League cup clash at ® to Scotland so it was hard to stay in touch.
“We will both want to win but we won’t be shouting or swearing at each other on the touchline because neither of us are like that.
“But being friends doesn’t add anything extra to the game and I won’t be more pleased than usual if we win. All that matters is reaching the next round.”
Leeds boss Monk has Liverpool plus Premier League games with Leicester and Arsenal.
But his absence opens the door for a youngster to impress as Pochettino hands run-outs to his fringe men at Anfield tonight.
Winger Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, 21, is set to start for the first time since already tipped Norwich to win the Championship and the two teams clash at Carrow Road in the league in two weeks’ time.
But Neil added: “Gaz is just playing mind games there, trying to take a bit of the pressure off his players. It’s just about who performs best on the day.
“The league’s our priority but the Cup is very important to us. So we won’t go there with an under-strength team.” his £11m summer switch from Marseilles.
Midfield duo Harry Winks, 20, and Josh Onomah, 19, plus 18-year-old centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers are also in the frame.
Pochettino challenged them all to seize their chance and follow in the footsteps of Harry Kane, who rose through the ranks to become a White Hart Lane superstar.
He said: “If they can cope with the pressure they will be important players like Kane.
“If not, it is because they are not at the level to play for Tottenham.”