Mauricio Pochettino reassures Nabil Bentaleb over Tottenham future

Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentaleb has been reassured over his future by head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

The Algerian has struggled with recurring injury problems this season but returned to training in December and has since made two appearances off the bench.

Bentaleb appeared as a 68th-minute substitute in the FA Cup third-round draw with Leicester and is expected to figure in Wednesday's replay after Pochettino admitted he will need to make changes to his side.

Pochettino said: "From the beginning, he had a problem. He missed 17 or 18 games with re-injury. The team moved on and another player had the opportunity to play.

"But we keep a very good relationship with Nabil and be sure that, if he works like he works in the last few weeks, he will have the possibility to play. It's always about a football decision, and performance."

Pochettino and Spurs are on the hunt for a new striker in the winter transfer window, with West Brom's Saido Berahino and Fulham youngster Moussa Dembele reported targets.

The Argentinian refused to be drawn on media reports over their progress and instead picked out two academy players with the potential to shine at White Hart Lane.

"Always it's about rumour. There is a lot of rumour. But we never speak about rumour," Pochettino said.

"We work to find and add the right profile - the right player to improve us. If we cannot find him, then we don't bring one in. Why would we? For the sake of bringing one in? This is not our philosophy.

"We have a lot of young players with potential in the academy, like Shayon Harrison or Kazaiah Sterling - I can give a lot of names.

"There are a lot of players and names that want to come with us, because Tottenham is a big club, and the philosophy and how the team plays is very attractive. It's not possible then it's not a big problem for me. We have enough quality to compete for different competitions."