Spurs labour in stars’ absence

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Aston Villa 0: It depends on whether you see the glass half-full or half-empty, but here are two ways of looking at Tottenham’s not entirely comfortable passage through to the fourth round of the FA Cup at the expense of Aston Villa.

On the one hand you can say Mauricio Pochettino has a deep enough squad to field nine reserves and still win, or the more cynical might suggest Tottenham are three injuries away from being a very average team.

Pochettino made nine changes to the side that ended Chelsea’s winning run last Wednesday and still ran out victorious, thanks to late goals from Ben Davies and Heung Min Son.