Ryan Mason has been preparing Tottenham for the visit of Manchester United on Thursday night, with the match taking place just three days after the departure of Chrstian Stellini.
Spurs have been through a chaotic period in their history following the departure of Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici, which had initially left Stellini in caretaker charge, but Sunday's 6-1 defeat to Newcastle United led to his axing. Now Mason takes charge of the club for a second interim spell, having also done so after Jose Mourinho left the club in 2021.
Mason is a popular figure at the club and played alongside current stars such as Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Hugo Lloris during his time as a player before leaving in 2016. Having since returned as a youth coach, he has risen through the ranks and is now charged with salvaging positivity for Spurs in their remaining fixtures.
There is still European qualification to play for, with last weekend's defeat meaning that only a win against United will keep Spurs' slim hopes of Champions League football next term alive. Despite their ambitions of a successful season hanging by a thread, Mason spoke on Wednesday of his confidence ahead of the match.
He insisted at his press conference that his side could cause United problems, explaining: “It will be difficult, absolutely. This is a team that can cause us problems, but also a team who we can cause problems as well.
"We’ll approach the game confident and have belief we can win it. We respect them, like we respect every team in this division, because it’s relentless, tough and if you’re not 100 per cent at it as a group we’ve seen not just with us, but with every team, it’s tough to win games. We’re aware of that and that’s our main focus as we approach this game.”.
Hugo Lloris is set to miss out having been withdrawn during half-time at St James's Park, with some other tweaks to the system and a return to a back three in defence expected.
Here is the predicted line-up for Tottenham vs Man United:
Spurs XI (3-4-3):
Forster; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Porro, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Davies; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
