Mauricio Pochettino believes he has a strong enough squad to cope with a big week at an early stage in Tottenham’s season.
Having started their Europa League campaign with victory over Qarabag on Thursday night, Spurs host Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday before a Capital One Cup clash with fierce rivals Arsenal and a return to league action at Manchester City.
With three big games in the space of six days across two competitions Pochettino’s side could lay down a marker for the remainder of the campaign – having not lost since an opening-day defeat at Manchester United.
Pochettino is expecting a challenge when he welcomes Alan Pardew’s Eagles to White Hart Lane but insists his players can deal with such a tough run.
“We have a lot of games ahead and we need to be careful with the players,” he said.
“We need to give the players time to recover and manage them in a very good way because we have some problems with some players but we have a big squad, it is not a problem.
“Palace have improved in different positions and showed it in the last nine or 10 games – they have won eight. They are a very strong team and have improved a lot from last season.”
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Eric Dier, who has been deployed in a defensive midfield role in recent games by Pochettino, echoed his manager’s comments and has been impressed by the improvements made by Palace in the last year.
“They showed signs of what they are capable of when Alan Pardew took over last season,” he said.
“This season they’ve really kicked on – it will be a tough test. They’ve got a bit of everything now because they are organised, they defend well but then they also have good attacking players with flair and creativity.
“It’s a cliche but there are no easy games in the Premier League. Last season, people were talking about Palace possibly going down but they are now right at the top end of the table.
“Look at the likes of Swansea, Everton, Southampton and now Leicester. There are so many good teams that you can’t afford to be off the pace in any game. You have to be ready every weekend.”
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