Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino: Our senior stars deserve as much credit as the youngsters

Tottenham are taking the plaudits for the progress of their young English players but Mauricio Pochettino insists they would be far less effective without their experienced colleagues.

Pochettino has been praised for promoting players like Dele Alli and Eric Dier, who started in midfield for England in their 2-0 win over France earlier this week, when Alli was on the scoresheet.

Tottenham’s starting XI has had an average age of about 24 for many games this season but Pochettino was quick to highlight the contribution of some of his senior stars, such as Hugo Lloris, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.

“We always speak about balance,” said Pochettino. “The younger players need the senior ones there in order to feel confidence on the pitch.

“Football is about balance, not only on the pitch but off it, in the changing room. We have 25 or 26 players today with a very good balance among them. They deserve full credit for that.

“Maybe today everyone speaks about the English players we have here but we have very good players from outside, and they deserve the credit too. We need to be clever for the next few years to stick to the way we have chosen, improve our squad and the way we work to try to get success for our supporters by winning some trophies.”

Nabil Bentaleb is unlikely to be available for Sunday’s clash with West Ham after aggravating an ankle injury while playing for Algeria last week.

Bentaleb was forced off in the first half of his country’s World Cup qualifier against Tanzania but Pochettino expects him to be available for the Europa League tie at Qarabag, or the league meeting with Chelsea next Sunday.

Bentaleb has not played for Spurs since August 29 but was still permitted to link up with his national side for their two-leg encounter against Tanzania.

Meanwhile, Andros Townsend is back in the first-team squad. The winger was not considered for the games against Anderlecht or Arsenal before the international break after a clash with fitness coach Nathan Gardiner, but Pochettino confirmed Townsend was back in the frame.