Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has reiterated that he has no intention of rushing Toby Alderweireld back into action after a hamstring injury.
Last week, Alderweireld made his first start since recovering from a hamstring injury sustained on November 1 and after coming through the full 90 minutes against Newport County, there was every expectancy that the centre-back would feature in the squads for the games against Arsenal and Juventus.
However, the Belgian international was absent against the Gunners on Saturday and has been left in London ahead of the Champions League clash with the Italian giants in Turin, and Pochettino has claimed that he is trying to show "common sense" over the player's fitness.
At a press conference, the 45-year-old told reporters: "After three-and-a-half months he suffered a massive injury. From day one we created a plan to help him. We worked with the medical area and sports science. He's 28, it was a massive injury and we cannot put in risk his career.
"We're sorry for him to miss massive games like Arsenal and the Champions League. I understand and we are frustrated too.
"Of course it's a very important game but we need to apply our common sense about how he is used in the first few weeks after training. Competing is different. We were lucky to have Newport. All going well he will be available for Rochdale and we will assess day by day."
Alderweireld first declared that he was making himself available for selection on January 23.
Darren Plant
