Tim Sherwood has indicated that Etienne Capoue and Lewis Holtby are not in his Tottenham Hotspur first-team plans by allowing them to turn out for the club's Under-21 side in the middle of the busy festive period.
Sherwood has been named permanent manager at White Hart Lane after overseeing a 3-2 win over Southampton this weekend, having previously been put in caretaker charge following the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas.
Despite fellow midfielders Sandro and Paulinho being unavailable, Capoue and Holtby were unused substitutes at St Mary's Stadium, with Sherwood opting to hand 19-year-old rookie Nabil Bentaleb a Premier League debut when Moussa Dembele was forced off injured after 50 minutes.
It also appears unlikely that either will start in the Boxing Day clash with West Bromwich Albion, having played a half for Tottenham's youth team in a 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on Monday.
Capoue was one of Spurs' seven summer signings, having joined them in an £8.6m deal from Toulouse, and had impressed in his initial outings before being sidelined for two months with a knee injury.
Holtby was in and out of Villas-Boas's starting lineup, and has made 11 top-flight appearances this season, but has failed to establish himself since arriving in a £2.5m switch from Schalke last January.
Joe Fish
