Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has admitted his confusion at the injury suffered by Tanguy Ndombele during this afternoon's 1-1 draw with Sheffield United.
Ndombele was passed fit to start the game but was taken off at half time after Pochettino felt that he was uncomfortable throughout the opening 45 minutes, with the doctor confirming a groin injury during the interval.
However, Pochettino suggested that the injury may have occurred before the game, despite Ndombele insisting that he was fit to feature.
"Ndombele felt his groin, but I don't know if it was before or during the game it happened. It was a strange position because my feeling that he wasn't comfortable on the pitch, but he said he was OK during the game," Pochettino told reporters at his post-match press conference.
"At half time the doctor said to me you have to change as he cannot continue in the game. That can sometimes affect the team, which is not an excuse. When you play a team like Sheffield United, 11-player focus with full energy, if one player drops a little bit for a different reason of course we are going to struggle, and we struggled from the beginning.
"I saw in the last 15 minutes we started to grow on the pitch and started to dominate and play better, but from the beginning we suffered a lot."
The result leaves Spurs 12th in the Premier League table, just three points clear of 17th-placed Aston Villa.
Barney Corkhill
