Ange Postecoglou says every other Tottenham player will have to raise their game if the club is to cope with the loss of captain and talisman Heung-min Son, starting with Friday's FA Cup tie at home to Burnley.
Son scored his 12th goal of the season in the New Year's Eve win over Bournemouth before departing for the Asian Cup with South Korea, and he will also miss the visit to Manchester United on January 14, a possible FA Cup fourth-round tie and potentially further games against Brentford, Everton and Brighton.
Postecoglou made no bones about Son's importance to the team and said the forward's absence is exacerbated because Spurs' vice-captains James Maddison and Cristian Romero are both currently injured.
"Sonny, if you name a team of the year at the moment, he's in it," Postecoglou said ahead of Burnley's visit.
"He's been a hell of a player for us. It's a big loss for us, another one, and we're going to have to really raise everyone's levels to cover the absence of another significant contributor for us this season.
"I’ve been preparing for [his absence] since the start of the season but I wasn’t preparing to lose half a dozen other players at the same time," he added.
"If we had some of our injured players available and fit, the absence would be diminished, albeit he’s still a significant person at our football club.
"It’s not just about what he does as a player, he’s the captain of the club, he’s been our leader, an outstanding leader from day one on and off the field. It’s a significant absence.
"From that perspective, in terms of the presence he had on the field, if Romero and Maddison were available, you could diminish it. But they’re not available.
"We’ve had to overcome these things and it’s just another challenge for us."
Postecoglou has played down supporters' concerns that Spurs' ambitious for a top-four finish - or better - will impact how seriously they take the FA Cup, which they have not won since 1991, but he warned the competition should not become the club's "holy grail".
"From my perspective, it's an opportunity for us to try to win a competition and for a club of our stature that has to be the ambition every year, that you go into every competition with the aim and the hope of winning some silverware," he said.
"Every competition I've been in I want to win. So I don't really rank them or diminish one against the other. I haven't sensed anything within this football club that this isn't a competition that's important.
"At a football club like this which should be competing for honours every year, I don't think winning one trophy should be the holy grail"
"I don't think one [competition] impacts the other. I don't know why whatever your ambitions are in the league that has to impact your ambitions in the cup competition.
"I am determined to bring success to the football club but it is not a desperation for something that will give us some respite for what is ahead.
"When you're a big football club there should be a constant demand for success.
"At a football club like this which should be competing for honours every year, I don't think winning one trophy should be the holy grail. It should be creating a team and a club that is competing for trophies every year."
