Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino says he plans to reintroduce the injured members of his squad to the first-team in the same manner in which he has done with Danny Rose.

Rose, 27, made his first appearance for the club since January in the Champions League group stage clash with Real Madrid on 17 October, making two more appearances before being left out of the squad completely for last Saturday's north London derby defeat to Arsenal.

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Pochettino insisted after the 2-0 loss his decision was based purely on the player's fitness and recalled the England international to his starting XI for Tuesday's Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund. Rose completed 90 minutes in Germany as Spurs came from behind to seal a win which guaranteed their qualification to the knock-out stages of the competition as group winners.

Speaking to BT Sport post-match, Pochettino praised the left-back's performance, believing his decisions over Rose's playing time have now been vindicated.

"It is fantastic [to have so many players coming back]," Pochettino said. "Danny Rose was very good, I am very happy for him because I think today he showed what we expect from him. I think the decision of Saturday was very good because I think I helped him to improve and develop in terms of his fitness."

Tottenham have another long-term absentee to come back in Erik Lamela, who has not played for the first-team in over a year. Victor Wanyama meanwhile has not played since mid-August due to a knee problem that required him to see a specialist in October, while Toby Alderweireld is not expected to return from a hamstring injury until after Christmas.

Pochettino spoke positively about his squad options heading into the busy festive period however and suggested he is hopeful the likes of Lamela and Wanyama can have some role to play in the coming weeks.

"It is a thing we are going to do with different players," Pochettino continued after discussing Rose's slow reintroduction to the first-team. "We have ahead of us a lot of games, it is impossible to cope always playing with the same starting XI, they are not machines. But it is fantastic, we are now focusing on Lamela, Wanyama and Toby, to try be available as soon as possible and to try and help the team because we have ahead a lot of games. But I am happy because the squad is good, the mentality is perfect and the reaction after Saturday was perfect."

Danny Rose
Rose completed 90 minutes as Spurs qualified for the Champions League last 16 as group winners. Getty