Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino could give some youth players a chance to show they are good enough for his team when they visit Colchester in the Carabao Cup.
Spurs head to the League Two outfit on Tuesday in the midst of a gruelling run of seven games in 21 days.
As a result Pochettino could hand an opportunity to some younger players, with the likes of Troy Parrott, Oliver Skipp and Japhet Tanganga in the frame.
“All the competitions we take seriously. For different reasons we need games,” Pochettino said.
Time to focus on the @Carabao_Cup.— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 23, 2019
“The young players need games to improve and try to show their quality and maybe fight for a place in the starting XI in the Champions League or Premier League.
“We are going to have a mix, we will assess the squad because we are going to have a very tough period and we need to manage the squad. We are going to be there trying to win the game.”
Spurs fans are particularly excited to see Parrott get his first-team chance after he impressed during the club’s pre-season tour to Asia.
Big things are expected of the 17-year-old, who has scored picturebook goals for the club’s Under-23s side, as well as the Republic of Ireland Under-21s.
Asked whether he will be involved, Pochettino replied: “Maybe, of course, he was at Leicester, but he wasn’t in 18 players. We will see.”
Pochettino, in a prickly mood after his side were beaten at Leicester on Saturday, took exception to being asked whether he would be taking the game at the JobServe Community Stadium seriously.
“How seriously? Like all the games,” the Argentinian said. “We took seriously at Leicester and we took seriously the game we lost against Newcastle.
“We are going to take seriously, we need to avoid this type of question because it’s a question that (suggests) we don’t take seriously.
“If we play Hugo Lloris – because he didn’t play at Leicester – are we going to take it more seriously than if we play Paulo Gazzaniga? Or at Leicester we took less seriously because we played Paulo instead of Hugo?
“This type of question we need to avoid because we show lack of respect to the squad and the players and I don’t want to be rude with you because I am nice person.
“It surprises me this type of question because if I say something you twist my words.”
