Mauricio Pochettino admits he is surprised that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has seemingly blamed Danny Rose for injuring Hector Bellerin at the end of the north London derby.

Wenger announced today that Gunners full-back Bellerin has been ruled out for “about four weeks”, adding: “He was injured in the last 10 seconds against Spurs - a very strong tackle from Danny Rose.”

Pochettino was unaware of Wenger’s statement and the wording when he spoke to reporters at his own press conference today but, when informed that Wenger had criticised Rose for the incident, he expressed his surprise and branded the comment “very strange”.

“I respect Arsene Wenger a lot. After 20 years as a manager in one place, at Arsenal, I respect that a lot,” he said. “But for me what happens on the pitch is never about bad intentions, it’s about football.

“I stopped my career 10 years ago and I feel like it was last month. I totally understand when the players are playing with passion, like Danny or anyone in our team. We are always aggressive in our play and sometimes things happen because football is very aggressive – it’s a contact sport, always. You cannot avoid the contact.

“It is strange, if the comments are true, that after 20 years he should criticise this.

“Two days ago Danny Rose suffered a bad tackle from Carvajal but that is football. If today maybe Danny comes in for training and says ‘I cannot play on Saturday’ I cannot criticise Carvajal because it’s a game - or Vardy for the tackle on Azpilicueta.

“We want all players to be like a man, be aggressive, tackle, always. But intention to injure the opponent? In football you know sometimes you cannot stop, you arrive late and you cannot criticise every single tackle.

“It is very strange, that comment, but I fully respect him.”

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