Jose Mourinho has played down talks of a falling out with Dele Alli after he substituted the Englishman at half-time against Everton last weekend.
Alli was one of the players that weren’t effective in the first half of that game against the Toffees and Mourinho made the tactical decision to replace him at half time.
Spurs went on to lose the game 1-0 and it wasn’t the best start to the season that they have hoped for.
They are visiting Bulgaria where they will face Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Europa League on Thursday.
The game will be a one-legged tie and winner takes all. Mourinho wants to win the competition for Spurs like he did for Manchester United, but he will have to face the unenviable task of taking his team through the qualification phase.
Speaking ahead of the game, he confirmed that there is no problem between him and Alli.
He said via BBC: “I never saw a strong reaction from him. He’s a good boy,” said Mourinho.
“He was quiet and sad but he was just one of many.”
About the one-legged nature of the Europa League, he said:
“With two games the situation would be different,” he said. “With one match, one decision, everything is decided tomorrow.
“I think it is a difficult match and we are going to give them the respect they deserve from us. We are going there knowing it is black or white, there is no other option, you win or lose, you are in or out.”