Press Conference: Jose Mourinho on injury problems, Dele Alli, Giovani Lo Celso and more

Tottenham will be back for the Premier League clash against Aston Villa after a winter break. Ahead of the upcoming fixture Mourinho has met the press. Speaking on injury problems, the club boss has given an update on the players, saying: "No more limitation for [Steven] Bergwijn, Ben [Davies] is back. Giovani [Lo Celso] is ready to play. [Erik] Lamela we have to assess but if not for Sunday then Wednesday. Juan [Foyth] out still a little bit and [Moussa] Sissoko and Harry [Kane] apart from that we’re getting better." Asked on Dele Ali, who was accused of mocking an Asian man over the coronavirus at Heathrow Airport, he told the reporters: "I spoke with Dele, but for me it was a quite easy conversation because he was very sorry about the mistake. It was never his intention to hurt or offend. He immediately regretted it and realised it was a mistake. A young guy mistake of his generation. It was a simple conversation. I can say that he regrets and that for me is the best feeling he can show and to apologize is remarkable because sometimes these people don’t realize they make mistakes." On Lo Celso, Mourinho has revealed he likes to have the player in the squad: "He can play everywhere. No 10, No 8, double midfield player with Winks. He can play on the right or left. He can play everywhere. I’m so, so happy with him. I like him very, very much." The Spurs boss also responded to Danny Rose claims he 'wasn't given a chance' at Tottenham, having made just 5 appearances under the new boss. He said: "He [Danny Rose] played against Liverpool, he played against Olympiacos, probably the two more important matches we had to play, and against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. So even for Danny Rose a great opportunity to play three matches and show me what he’s capable to do."

On Jan Vertonghen's subtitution against Southampton, Mourinho said: "He is a fantastic professional. A fantastic professional. I can only say good thing, not one bad thing. He came out sad, yes. I am happy that he is like that. I am really happy that he wants to play and wants to give 90 minutes and to come out sad, angry, I accept that very, very well. Especially because he showed respect to my decision and the team, at the end of the game qualification for the next round and he was as happy as everyone else."

On Tanganga's place in the first team, Mourinho said: "He is already in the dressing room, with Skipp. Both fantastic kids, both kids we believe in a lot. The difference with Japhet is that his opportunity appeared, but Skippy has not had the opportunity to play many matches. But both are in the first team dressing room and our objective is to make them Tottenham players for many years."

The Spurs boss talked about getting stuck in Germany during the winter break. The manager was seen to watch Bayern vs RB Leipzig clash at the Allianz Arena.

He said: "I’m happy that you don’t ask about my winter break. Because I was stuck for three days in Germany and couldn’t get back. That was my winter break, couldn’t leave Munich. I had to go from car by Munich to Stuttgart after two days and then get a flight from Stuttgart to London so for me it was not the best. I was there and saw the match and for me it was great. For the players, I think some of them, especially some of them, were in need - the ones without rotation, the ones who were playing every minute, the ones who were very close to playing 30 minutes extra time against Southampton. For these boys, it’s come in a good moment. If you ask me if it’s the perfect situation, I say no. The perfect situation would be for us to play against Villa tonight or tomorrow early, and then have three or four days before Leipzig. In fact Leipzig plays tomorrow afternoon so it’s not the perfect situation for us to play on Sunday, but since 2004 I’m in this country I know how it works and I know we have no protection at all before the Champions League matches. But we have to focus not now on Leipzig, let’s focus on Villa and go there for a very difficult match." The Spurs are sitting on the 6th place of the league table and will be hoping to improve their position, following their two wins before their two weeks off.

Source: Football London

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