Jose Mourinho believes it is ‘too risky’ for Tottenham to play any more friendlies before they return to Premier League action.
Spurs enjoyed a training friendly with Norwich City on Friday – the action split into four 30-minute quarters – as players from both clubs try to quickly get back up to speed ahead of the restart.
Harry Kane, Moussa Sissoko, Son Heung-min and Steven Bergwijn, who were all injured prior to the coronavirus-enforced suspension to the 2019-20 season, were all involved.
Mourinho would ideally like to fit in another game before Friday’s huge clash with his former club Manchester United, but he is not prepared to gamble given Spurs’ packed schedule upon the resumption.
‘We are not going to have any more friendlies. We think it would be good, but it’s too risky,’ Mourinho told the club’s official website.
‘We are going to do a normal preparation week, starting on the Monday and going through to Friday. After that, we’ve two more days and then West Ham, so the next 10 days are going to be busy.
‘We have to adapt to this new reality, which is what we’ve tried to do.
‘We have to think that the points are there to fight for. With fans or without fans, the points are there on the pitch. Ourselves and United will have to fight for them.’
Mourinho was pleased that his players were able to experience a match situation inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without fans, as will be the case in the top flight due to Covid-19 restrictions.
‘We needed minutes, we needed to know the feeling of playing here without our supporters and to have this training session with another Premier League team is the best thing,’ the Portuguese coach added.
Spurs face an uphill battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League as they sit eighth in the table, seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea with nine games remaining.
After resuming with the game against top-four rivals United, Spurs will also take in a London derby date at home to West Ham before travelling to Sheffield United, who are also in Champions League contention.
