Spurs have no fears but Messi awaits

As if Tottenham’s task in trying to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League is not hard enough, Mauricio Pochettino has to contend with an injury situation that means rookie right-back Kyle Walker-Peters will be thrown in against Lionel Messi and his Barcelona team-mates in the Nou Camp tonight.

Injuries to Kieran Trippier and Serge Aurier, Tottenham’s two regular right-backs, mean Walker-Peters, a 21-year-old local boy who has started just two Premier League games for Spurs, will be making a baptism of fire in a game that Tottenham need to win to have any realistic chance of reaching the knockout stages of the competition.