Tottenham are missing four midfielders as they prepare to host league leaders Manchester City at White Hart Lane tomorrow, with Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb, Mousa Dembele and Alex Pritchard still out of action.

Although he briefly appeared as a substitute in the goalless draw against Everton on August 29, Pritchard continues to be hampered by an ankle injury sustained during the European Under-21 Championship in the summer, while Dembele and Bentaleb also have ankle injuries.

They have all missed the last four games, while Mason is continuing to recover from the blow he sustained on his knee while scoring Spurs’ winning goal at Sunderland on September 13.

“Still they are out,” said Pochettino at his press conference today (Friday). “Mason, Mousa Dembele, Nabil Bentalenb and Alex Pritchard are still out but we still have a strong squad.”

Tottenham go into tomorrow’s match with a poor record against Manchester City, having lost seven of the last eight clashes and conceded 26 goals in the process, with Pochettino’s Argentine countryman Sergio Aguero netting eight times in the last four games against Spurs.

“Maybe it’s a good opportunity to win tomorrow to change the dynamic,” said Spurs’ head coach. “We don’t have much time to prepare for this game - we played on Wednesday [against Arsenal in the Capital One Cup] - but we watch a lots of clips, a lot of situations that you need to be aware of for our defensive line.

“But after that you need to deliver it. You know [everything] today because of the TV, the media. You can see how they play and how he [Aguero] plays, but in the end we need to deliver everything we know about him or Manchester City.

“Football is a psychological and emotional sport but I think we need to be ready for tomorrow and we are ready to compete – this is the most important thing, to compete.

“We are ready, we are fresh and we want to give a good result for our fans after the defeat on Wednesday.”

Follow me on Twitter @BenPearceSpurs