Tottenham Hotspur delayed in Munich ahead of Manchester United Premier League opener

Tottenham Hotspur's preparations for their opening Premier League game of the season were further disrupted after they were refused permission to fly home early from Munich. Mauricio Pochettino's side have already been on a tight schedule after spending the week in Germany for the Audi Cup for games against Real Madrid on Tuesday (4 August 2015) and AC Milan on Wednesday (5 August), just days before their curtain raiser at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Tottenham officials attempted to have the club's travel arrangements brought forward from Thursday morning to Wednesday evening. But German authorities were unable to change their flight slot, meaning that the club were forced to stick to their original plan of training at Bayern Munich's facilities on Thursday morning before flying back to London later in the afternoon.

Tottenham players will now spend just 24 hours back in the capital before flying up to Manchester on Friday, where they will stay ahead of their 12:45pm BST kick off against United at Old Trafford. Pochettino selected a strong starting XI in Tuesday's 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid, with Harry Kane, who played at the Under-21 European Championships with England this summer, playing for 86 minutes.

The England international was among those rested by the Argentine on Wednesday against Milan however, along with Toby Alderweireld, Christian Eriksen, Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and Dele Alli who all had no part to play in the 2-0 win over the Rossoneri. The club were also boosted by the return of Hugo Lloris, who featured in his first match since fracturing his wrist in early July. The Frenchman, who missed much of the club's pre-season campaign as a result, came off the bench after 55 minutes to replace Luke McGee.

Despite his return, Pochettino played down Lloris's chances of featuring against United on Saturday. "He played 35 minutes and it was fantastic to see," the Tottenham boss said. "Maybe in the next weeks he will be OK. It was very positive ­today to assess him, but maybe he is not ready for 90 minutes. But it's very important he is ready to come back."