10 January 2021

‘Nobody told me we’re not playing’ – Jose Mourinho is preparing Spurs to face Villa midweek

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho is preparing for his side’s Premier League game at Aston Villa on Wednesday to go ahead.

The match is understood to be in doubt after a mass outbreak of coronavirus at the midlands club, with 10 first-team Villa players struck down with the virus.

Villa played their FA Cup game with Liverpool on Friday night with a youth team, losing 4-1, while Mourinho – whose side had their December 30 date with Fulham delayed due to Covid-19 in the Cottagers’ camp – has said it would be “completely impossible” for another one of Spurs’ league games to be cancelled and said teams should be ready to play with the minimum 14 players.

The PA news agency understands that Spurs are yet to hear anything from the Premier League regarding the fixture, so Mourinho will begin preparations on Monday.

He may have been making more of a point about the lack of information from the league, but asked after Sunday’s 5-0 win at Marine when he expects his side to next play, Mourinho said: “Wednesday.”

Asked again whether he thinks the Villa game will go ahead, he replied: “Yeah. Nobody told me that I’m not going to play so (on Monday morning) we start to prepare for that game, and the same Tuesday unless somebody tells us different.”

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