Mauricio isn’t moaning

MAURICIO Pochettino has refused to complain about Tottenham’s “difficult” task of playing two Premier League games in the space of 48 hours.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola launched a fierce attack on the congested festive fixture schedule after his Premier League leaders beat Watford 3-1 on Tuesday night, saying playing every two days is “going to kill” the players.

Spurs entertain West Ham after beating Swansea 2-0 on a heavy Liberty Stadium surface on Tuesday night.

But Pochettino said ahead of this evening’s London derby at Wembley: “It will be difficult for the players but I am not going to complain.

“We are going to rest 48 hours until this fixture. We are maybe going to rotate and make some changes to bring some fresh legs to the team.

“This is an opportunity to play with the squad — and that is important.”

Spurs have had to sandwich the West Ham game between the trip to Swansea and Sunday’s FA Cup third round tie with AFC Wimbledon after an issue with the original New Year’s Eve date.

The decision was taken due to “transport issues” after the Safety Advisory Group could only recommend a Wembley crowd capacity of 43,000 on New Year’s Eve.

“I know very well how is this business and it was impossible to play before,” Pochettino said.

“Some teams play after Boxing Day but I think we are going to arrive in the same condition as West Ham.

“We are going to take a good decision to pick 11 players full of energy who are trying to win.”

Harry Kane is expected to return for Spurs after dropping to the bench at Swansea because of a heavy cold. But Danny Rose is expected to miss out again after damaging his knee.

Philippe Coutinho