Wounded Tottenham healing in time for West Ham derby

LONDON

Mauricio Pochettino expects Tottenham to thrive despite the damage to his injury-ravaged squad as they head to West Ham for Saturday's London derby.
Pochettino's side return to Premier League action after the international break with mixed news on the injury front.

Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen and Belgium midfielder Mousa Dembele are both fit after recovering from abdomen and thigh problems respectively.

But Pochettino is still without injured England duo Dele Alli and Danny Rose for at least 10 days, while Jan Vertonghen is even further away from returning after his hamstring problem.

Despite their fitness woes, Tottenham make the short trip to the London Stadium in decent form after winning their last three league games, albeit with a painful Champions League loss to Barcelona between those victories.

With a hectic schedule looming in the coming weeks, Pochettino knows his squad will be stretched to the limits, but he is confident they can cope.

"It was a good time for us because we are going to recover a few players like Christian and Mousa Dembele," Pochettino said.

"The most important thing is that we start to recover players. It will be a tough month of competition for us.

"There are a lot of games ahead and it's so important to have nearly all the squad fit to compete and play and to give options to rotate and share the games because it will be tough, the months we have ahead.

"We have seven games in one month, in four weeks, and it's so important to have all fit to compete and to give the level that we want."

Tottenham are fifth in the league, but sit only two points behind leaders Manchester City.

With City due at Wembley for a crunch clash against Tottenham later this month, the north Londoners are in position to bolster their hopes of making a strong title bid.

But some of their performances this term have been less impressive than their solid results would suggest.

They might not get away with another sloppy display against West Ham, who have recovered from their dismal start to the season.

Although they lost at Brighton in their last match, Manuel Pellegrini's team have drawn with Chelsea and beaten Manchester United in recent weeks.

Pellegrini would love to take advantage of Tottenham's injury issues but, asked if post-World Cup fatigue might still be a problem for Pochettino's squad, the Hammers boss made it clear he expects a tough test this weekend.

"I don't think that a Spurs player will be tired, they played on Monday (in international matches) and then now on Saturday," Pellegrini said.

"I think they are strong because you look at the players they have in their squad.

"Harry Kane is one of the best players in the world. They have three or four young players in the English national squad. They have a complete squad.

"Mauricio Pochettino has done a very good job at Tottenham. Every year he is improving them in the Premier League."