Tuesday 5 December 2017 16:16, UK
Mauricio Pochettino is “not worried” about Tottenham's form and wants to use the Champions League game against APOEL to build momentum.
Spurs are winless in their last four Premier League games having taken just two points from a possible 12 - a run which has left them 18 points behind leaders Manchester City and four points off the top four.
It has been a different story though in the Champions League where wins over Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund have seen Tottenham qualify as group winners making the final group game at home to APOEL a dead rubber.
But Pochettino, who has no issues with the way his side are currently performing, insists Wednesday's match is an opportunity to regain their form ahead of games against Stoke, Brighton and Man City.
"No, I'm not worried because the performances were good," he said. "We are frustrated because the results are not good but it's not about the performances.
"I cannot complain about the effort or many things, only that for different reasons we have struggled to get good results in the last few games.
"We are focused on this game because it's so important to win, important to finish the Champions League well and it's so important to build our momentum again.
"As a team, we need to build another good moment and it's a good opportunity to play well and only by winning games we are going to build again our momentum."
The Argentine confirmed Dele Alli will play against APOEL but other key players such as Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris and Christian Eriksen will be left out in what is likely to be a much-changed starting line-up from Saturday's 1-1 draw with Watford.
"Yes we are going to rest some players," admitted Pochettino. "Of course we are going to rotate the starting XI but Dele is going to play because he missed three Champions League games and I think he needs to play and he's fresh to play.
"Always in football you never know when is the right opportunity to rotate or give opportunities for players to play because when you win you can stop the momentum if you rest players and when you don't win, like on Saturday [against Watford], maybe you should give the possibility to the same players to play and build the momentum.
"I think always it's important to assess the players and be sure that some players need to rest because they are so tired and they need to breathe a little bit.
"It's a game that only provides us with the opportunity to play with some players that need to be ready if we need them. Then it's a great opportunity to show to the gaffer and the fans that they are available to play and can be regularly in the starting XI.
"We need to take the game very seriously because we want to win and try to build our momentum. We have a lot of games ahead and some players need to rest."
