Mauricio Pochettino warns Tottenham fans not to expect a quick fix when Erik Lamela finally returns

Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that there will be no quick fix to Tottenham Hotspur’s problems when Érik Lamela finally returns to first-team duty, after his side were held at home by West Brom on Saturday.

Spurs beat Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion on Tuesday, but they fell behind on four minutes against West Brom and needed a late strike from Harry Kane to salvage a point.

The north Londoners looked unusually sluggish in the match and – despite enjoying more than 72% in the game – they failed to create many clear-cut chances. They suffered from a lack of pace and were almost beaten when Salomón Rondón spurned a fine chance in the final seconds.

It was yet another Premier League match where Tottenham failed to break down a team at Wembley who sat deep and played strictly on the counter-attack, leading to yet more questions on Lamela, and whether he can provide the attacking spark that Spurs have been missing.

Over the past few weeks Pochettino has been repeatedly quizzed on Lamela’s return to first-team football, with the Spurs manager conceding ahead of the West Brom game that “We need to increase our tempo within the games – [You need players] that can break one vs. one, like Lamela”.

However, Pochettino has refused to blame the West Brom draw on Lamela’s absence and went on to admit the club are still waiting on the Argentinian midfielder, who celebrated the birth of his new baby over the weekend, to make his return.

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“Lamela is still not in condition to play,” Pochettino said. “We are waiting for him, but it’s not Lamela today.

“With Lamela or without Lamela… when you drop points you always you the player that didn’t play.

“When you win against Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund – when it’s good – you never ask me about the players that don’t play, no? I understand but of course I want to have everyone fit and available to be selected. Lamela is now one year not playing.”

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This season Pochettino has spoken on more than one occasion of his team’s struggles to break down deep-lying, organised opposition, something they managed to do so successfully last season when they finished as runners-up in the Premier League, behind Chelsea.

There is a feeling that, with Lamela out injured and with Son Heung-min now used almost exclusively as a forward instead of a midfielder, Tottenham lack a fast player who can cut in from the wing with genuine one v one quality. But Pochettino added that the club are unlikely to remedy that in the January transfer window.

“I think it’s still very far away, but you know our politics and the way that we work,” Pochettino said.

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“I think in January it is so difficult to find players that can help and that fit into the team so quickly.”

The Tottenham manager also congratulated Kane on scoring his 40th goal in 2017, although conceded that the forward would unlikely be celebrating the milestone given his disappointment with Saturday’s result.

Kane is just the fourth player to have scored 40 goals this calendar year, joining an elite list which also comprises Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (47), Paris Saint-Germain forward Edinson Cavani (46) and Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski (41).

But a disappointment Kane conceded immediately after the match that Tottenham’s performance “was not good enough”.

“Yes, it’s an unbelievable achievement and I am very happy for him as he rescued us with his goal to win one point and that is important,” Pochettino said. “But of course he feels disappointed because in the end we have dropped two points. No one is happy.”