Glenn Hoddle has expressed his delighted at Tottenham Hotspur being drawn against Wolfsberger in the Europa League round of 32 after he claimed the tie will allow Jose Mourinho to rest many of his first-team stars.
Tottenham finished top of Group J following a 2-0 win over Royal Antwerp in their final group match, which meant that they would be drawn against an unseeded team in first of the knockout stages.
Finishing top has certainly benefitted Spurs, who have been handed a relatively easier opponent than some of the others who are in contention to go far in this year’s competition.
Wolfsberger finished second in Group K behind Dinamo Zagreb and currently sit in seventh place in the Austrian Bundesliga.
Tottenham will travel to Austria for the first leg on February 18 before welcoming Wolfsberger to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 26.
Hoddle believes that his former side will be able to overcome the Austrian side even if Jose Mourinho rings the changes for the clash.
The Spurs legend told BT Sport on Monday, 12.40 pm: “It’s a great tie for Spurs, as a Spurs man. I think Mourinho could even play a second team in that match and then allow the team to get better in the latter stages.
MORE SPURS STORIES
“It’s got to be the plum draw, they couldn’t have hand-picked it. Maybe this second team could be good enough deep into the tournament.
“When you’ve got players with Son and Kane who can come on, can come and make a difference. It is a blessing, this tie. He can protect the Premier League side.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It is quite possible that we could be in the middle of a close-run title race in the middle of February. So the value of being able to rest a few key players while our rivals are forced to field a near full-strength side in the Champions League, cannot be underestimated.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
