Pochettino provides fitness update on Lucas MouraÂ
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has come up with a piece of welcome news for the fans, with the Argentine confirming that Lucas Moura is likely to be available for the Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea.
Spurs go into the second leg at Stamford Bridge with a bid to defend their lead, having won the first leg at Wembley 1-0 courtesy of Harry Kane’s VAR-approved penalty goal.
The Lilywhites survived a scare from relegation contenders Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday as Harry Winks sealed the victory for the visitors away at Craven Cottage with an injury-time winner after Fernando Llorente’s own goal had been cancelled out by Dele Alli’s strike.
Spurs will be without the services of Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Dele Alli after the Englishman hurt his hamstring on Sunday.
“We are going to be there [against Chelsea] trying to win the game. It’s going to be tough because Chelsea are a very good team,” he told reporters.
“I hope that Lucas Moura is going to be good. He was training today at the training ground, but we didn’t want to take a risk with him, so we’ll wait until he’s 100 per cent.
“Maybe for the bench, maybe he will start the game.”
“I am happy, very happy,” Pochettino said of Llorente’s display against Fulham.
Spurs started with Llorente up front against Fulham and Pochettino was happy with the Spaniard’s display even though he scored an own goal.
“He helped the team with his qualities, he had a few chances to score and might have been a bit unlucky. He’s a little bit tired after 90 minutes. He was good, I was so happy with his performance, he helped the team in 93 minutes.
“He has a few actions to score, that is the most important thing. In games, the moment will arrive for him to score. It was tough for him to compete, one year and a half without a game [starting in the Premier League].
“But he deserves the opportunity, he is professional and a good player.”
