Mauricio Pochettino has expressed his sympathy for Eric Dier ahead of the Tottenham midfielder’s first appearance of the season.
Dier is expected to start against Colchester United in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night having not played a single minute in any of Spurs’ seven games so far this term. The England international struggled with injuries and illness last season and has fallen down the pecking order.
The arrival of Tanguy Ndombele has made things even more difficult for Dier when it comes to getting game time. Even Victor Wanyama, who nearly left for Club Brugge on deadline day, was trusted ahead of Dier to come on against Leicester City on Saturday, only to be at fault for both of the goals Tottenham conceded.
And Pochettino has admitted it hasn’t been plane sailing for Dier, who will be assessed before a decision is made on his availability to start on Tuesday.
“It has been difficult [for Dier]. Of course it is tough for him,” the Spurs boss said (via the Telegraph).
“He has to wait through training and then of course he has the opportunity. He has to try to fight for his place.
“We have a big squad, I need to take the decision performance by performance. The plan is the plan. We are going to assess the player and then make the decision.”
Dele Alli is also set to play a part after enduring a disjointed start to his campaign. Check out our full predicted XI here.
Do you think Dier should be playing more often? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Eric Dier runs too slow and not much compare with Kante of Chelsea
Eric is easily beaten often by oppentent player when on running to help defenders
Eric should be given a chance of playing as defender but it is risky because he runs slowly
Seems when he does not play, we struggle.
I suspect Poch will try long term to make him play centre half as he has too much competition in midfield