Former Tottenham Hotspur boss Tim Sherwood has suggested that young striker Kazaiah Sterling is not ready to lead the line in the absence of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son.
Sterling was included in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for Sunday’s trip to Fulham, but was not utilised by the Spurs boss despite the fact that his side were being held to a 1-1 draw deep into injury time, before Harry Winks headed in the winner.
Pochettino instead decided to use the experience of Fernando Llorente to start in attack, but the decision provided not to be a wise one given his lack of mobility along with a couple of squandered chances.
Tottenham travel to Chelsea on Thursday night with a 1-0 lead going into the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, but while Sherwood believes that Sterling is not ready, he admits that we will never know unless he is given an opportunity to show his worth.
Pochettino will be without the services of Dele Alli, but is boosted by the return of Lucas Moura.
Sherwood told Sky Sports’ The Debate: “They’ve got Sterling. He’s very young though and has had no game time. That would be a major risk [to play him against Chelsea],” Sherwood said.
“But until you get an opportunity, you don’t know how good they are. The boy is very confident, he’s very game, he’s an out and out number nine. He’s got good pace.
“If I stuck my neck on the line and said is he ready? No, but he might be good enough to thicken up the squad for now.”
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