Puel has no fresh injury concerns for the trip to White Hart Lane, and there is also positive news for Jeremy Pied and Charlie Austin.
“The long-term injuries are still out like Virgil, Matt Targett and Alex McCarthy. He’s not available for the moment but Jeremy Pied will come back with the Under-23s which is a good thing,” Puel said.
“For Charlie, he did light training with us this morning without any opponents and it was great to see him. We will see when he can come back with the group, with intensity and opposition.
“It was also important to see Martin Caceres for his two first games for around 15 months so it’s a long time.
“It was important for him and now he’s available for the team and he will provide competition for Yoshida and Stephens.
“It’s a good thing for the next month because we have to play every three days and it’s good to have of solutions.”
Tottenham will be without Harry Kane for the visit of Southampton on Super Sunday, as the striker recovers from an ankle injury.
Kane feels optimistic about his ankle injury and has joked about returning in less than a month, according to Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Southampton are currently firmly in mid-table, and have been inconsistent of late, losing three and winning three of their last six.
Spurs, meanwhile, have won three of their last four in the league.
Kyle Walker twisted his ankle on a day off at home on Monday, while Danny Rose is still recovering from a knee problem.
Pochettino would not divulge the cause of Walker’s injury but said the defender had not trained this week and will have to be assessed. He is unlikely, however, to withdraw from the England squad.
Victor Wanyama is also struggling after enduring a “minor problem” against Millwall but Mousa Dembele, who missed the match with an ankle injury, is available. Erik Lamela remains sidelined with a hip injury.
Kane’s absence, however, is the biggest concern for Pochettino, given Tottenham endured their worst period of the season while the 23-year-old was out in September and October.
Vincent Janssen and Son Heung-min will be charged with filling the void.
Southampton boss Claude Puel will choose from an unchanged squad at Tottenham.
Striker Charlie Austin is close to resuming training after a shoulder injury and defender Jeremy Pied is also making good progress after a knee operation and could train next week.
Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, full-back Matt Targett and centre-half Virgil van Dijk are still out injured.
Pochettino has lost just one of his five Premier League games against his former team Southampton (W3 D1 L1), although it came in the last meeting at White Hart Lane in May 2016.
Southampton have kept only one clean sheet in their last 25 away league games against Spurs (0-0, Jan 2001), with Paul Jones in goal for Saints that day.
Dele Alli has scored three and assisted one more in two Premier League apps versus Southampton.
Christian Eriksen has netted three goals in three Premier League games against Southampton at White Hart Lane.
Manolo Gabbiadini has found the back of the net in each of his last seven competitive appearances, including all four games for Southampton and in the three prior to his move for Italian side Napoli (nine goals in total).
Gabbiadini could become the third player in Premier League history to score in each of his first four appearances in the competition alongside Mick Quinn and Diego Costa.
Southampton have won their last two Premier League games, netting four goals in each clash. They’ve not won three in a row since a four-game streak in May 2016, with a victory over Spurs the third win in this run.
Saints last scored four goals in three consecutive league games back in December 1980; a run that also included a 4-4 draw against Spurs at White Hart Lane.
I think Tottenham will be OK without Harry Kane for one or two games, but over a longer sequence of games, I do not think it will be so good. And they need to win this football match in order to cement top four, so if they do not win this game and Kane is also out, I do not see them winning too many other football matches in my opinion.
So it is a must-win game for them, but I think they will do a job without him for one, two or three games. But not for the next eight or nine games if he is out for that long.
But I am going to just go for Tottenham, because at the moment they are playing some very good football, so I am going to go 3-1 to Tottenham.
Tottenham are Sky Bet’s 7/10 favourites for the victory with Southampton given a 19/5 chance, while a draw is priced at 11/4.
Spurs were just 8/15 to win the match before Harry Kane’s injury, which also prompted their Premier League outright odds to drift from 14/1 to 20/1.
Heung-min Son heads the first goalscorer betting in Kane’s absence and is 20/1 for another hat-trick, while Manolo Gabbiadini is rated the visitors’ main threat at 13/2 to net first.
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I told them I had a problem with their attitude in the training session, and to ask their opinion.
Then after I told them the news I said I couldn’t understand why.
But of course it’s fantastic for them and for the club. It’s a good thing for them and congratulations to them and to the club.
All the staff who train them have been important for their progress and it’s a good reward for all.
The policy in this club for a lot of seasons has been to work with quality, for the promotion and evolution of young players, and it’s important we continue.
You can see with James, I looked at the interview when he was young, it was the same spirit - I think James is the ideal son-in-law!
He’s an intelligent player, he wants to make progress. It’s easy to train James.
For Nathan, he’s also a talented player, but sometimes he didn’t listen enough. But he has made progress since the beginning of the season.
It’s important he understands he has all the quality to become a very good striker with his feet and his quality. He can score all the goals and give good assists.
Ahead of this weekend’s Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Tottenham’s home clash with Southampton.
Mauricio Pochettino could be without five players for Tottenham’s game at home to Southampton on Sunday.
Pochettino will make late decisions on Kyle Walker and Victor Wanyama after defender Walker hurt his ankle at home on Monday while midfielder Wanyama sustained a knock against Millwall last weekend.
Harry Kane (ankle), Danny Rose (knee) and Erik Lamela (hip) are all out but Mousa Dembele is available again after recovering from an ankle problem.
Southampton boss Claude Puel will choose from an unchanged squad at Tottenham on Sunday.
Striker Charlie Austin is close to resuming training after a shoulder injury and defender Jeremy Pied is also making good progress after a knee operation and could train next week.
Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, full-back Matt Targett and centre-half Virgil Van Dijk are still out injured.
Mauricio Pochettino has lost just one of his five Premier League games against his former team Southampton (W3 D1 L1), although it came in the last meeting at White Hart Lane in May 2016.
Southampton have kept only one clean sheet in their last 25 away league games against Spurs (0-0, Jan 2001), with Paul Jones in goal for Saints that day.
Dele Alli has scored three and assisted one more in two Premier League apps versus Southampton.
Christian Eriksen has netted three goals in three Premier League games against Southampton at White Hart Lane.
Manolo Gabbiadini has found the back of the net in each of his last seven competitive appearances, including all four games for Southampton and in the three prior to his move for Italian side Napoli (nine goals in total).
Gabbiadini could become the third player in Premier League history to score in each of his first four appearances in the competition alongside Mick Quinn and Diego Costa.
Southampton have won their last two Premier League games, netting four goals in each clash. They’ve not won three in a row since a four-game streak in May 2016, with a victory over Spurs the third win in this run.
Saints last scored four goals in three consecutive league games back in December 1980; a run that also included a 4-4 draw against Spurs at White Hart Lane.
Spurs are unbeaten in their first 14 home top-flight league games of a season for the first time since 1964-65.
Spurs midfielder Christian Eriksen has created the most goalscoring chances this season (78), with 10 of these assisting goals for the north London club.
Spurs have played 12 games this season in all competitions without Harry Kane – nine of which have come against top-flight opposition. In those nine games, they have managed to score just eight goals and have won just three (W3 D4 L2).
Only the most optimistic Tottenham Hotspur fan will think they still have a chance in the Premier League title race.
By kick off on Sunday, Spurs could be 13 points behind Chelsea, despite sitting in second position, but they will want to improve their chances of a top four finish by beating Southampton.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men have won their last nine home Premier League matches and will want to extend this run, even if they are now without star striker Harry Kane.
Either Heung-Min Son or Vincent Janssen will replace him, while Danny Rose and Erik Lamela remain absent for the match at White Hart Lane.
Late decisions, though, will be made on Kyle Walker and Victor Wanyama who have sustained knocks.
Click the right arrow above to see our predicted Tottenham Hotspur line up, in squad number order…
Tottenham’s signings over the past two summers have been a mixed bag.
In 2015, they bought five players and of them, Clinton Njie has already left the club and Kevin Wimmer no longer has his manager’s trust. Kieran Trippier and Son Heung-Min have both been a success but neither gets in the first XI when everyone is fit. Last summer, Spurs signed four players, including Vincent Janssen, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Moussa Sissoko for a combined £57 million to pep up their attack. The trio have scored one goal from open play between them and all three have been publicly criticised (or, in the case of Nkoudou, not backed publicly) by Mauricio Pochettino.
There is a strong case that Spurs would have been closer to Leicester City last season and would be closer to Chelsea now if they had spent better in the transfer market, and it is no wonder that the club is currently fully restructuring its scouting and recruitment departments.
The exceptions are Toby Alderweireld, signed in July 2015, and Victor Wanyama, who joined in June. They cost a combined £20m and both came from Pochettino’s former club Southampton (although Alderweireld was on loan at St. Mary’s and signed from Atletico Madrid), whom Spurs host in the Premier League on Sunday.
Alderweireld transformed Spurs’ defence from one that conceded more goals than relegated Hull City in 2014-15 to the joint-best in the Premier League last season, while Wanyama has been a rock in midfield. He is Tottenham’s only constant in the top flight and if Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante is among the favourites to be named Player of the Year, the Kenya international should be considered for the award too. After all, he is perhaps the only midfielder to win his personal battle with Kante since Chelsea switched formations, coming out on top in Spurs’ 2-0 win in January.
The success of Alderweireld and Wanyama should not have come as a surprise. Both were “no brainer” signings: cheap, proven in the Premier League and in positions where Spurs needed to strengthen. “Sometimes it happens that you fit quickly with a team: in a group, in a squad. It was good for Toby and Victor because they felt at home from day one and showed the quality to play football at Tottenham,” Pochettino said on Friday.
The fact that they both came from Southampton is also significant.
It’s often said that Saints’ head coach or manager is less important than the overall structure at the club, something that’s been proven again this season. Claude Puel may not have done as well as his predecessor Ronald Koeman or Pochettino before him, but the club has still reached a cup final and safety in the Premier League despite selling its best players for a third consecutive summer.
Spurs thought they had found the key to Southampton’s success when they poached Paul Mitchell and his “black box” to head up recruitment in Nov. 2014 but they were sold a dud. Mitchell, who resigned in August and is now on gardening leave, was the driving force behind the signing of Nkoudou, who is hardly rated by Pochettino; evidently, Saints’ success in replacing their players was about more than one man.
Like Pochettino’s Tottenham, Southampton are a club with a clear philosophy. They operate as a business and as a football team in a certain way and they recruit head coaches and players that fit those principles. The immediate success of Alderweireld and Wanyama, plus the ease with which Pochettino and his staff settled at Spurs, suggest conditions at Southampton are similar to Spurs although Pochettino has rejected the suggestion that the clubs share a similar philosophy, describing them as “completely different.”
Pochettino may insist Spurs and Southampton are different but the Saints have several players worth signing.
Signing players to improve the squad isn’t easy at Tottenham, a club that’s trying to build both a title-winning team and an £800m stadium at the same time. “It’s true it’s a difficult task for us to find in the English market the right profile or player to add. Always when you sign players from the outside it’s always a big question mark,” admitted Pochettino.
Spurs, then, might do well to consider more of Southampton’s players in the summer ahead.
Ryan Bertrand can play both left-back and left wing-back and has started a Champions League final, making the 27-year-old a more suitable deputy for Danny Rose than Ben Davies, while Virgil van Dijk would be the perfect centre-half to spark competition in Pochettino’s three-man defence.
Nathan Redmond, named in Gareth Southgate’s England squad this week, would be a cheaper alternative to Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha as the quick and versatile winger Pochettino so desperately wants, and the Argentine and Mitchell have both wanted to bring Jay Rodriguez to Spurs in the past. Sadly, the Saints forward seems to lost his edge since a cruciate ligament injury.
Pochettino is also a fan of midfielder James Ward-Prowse – “He’s a great professional, a great player, he deserves to be called up for the national team. He is a fighter.” – and he has been “very impressed” with striker Manolo Gabbiadini.
Signing more players from Southampton won’t be easy. Spurs nabbed Wanyama for a snip at £9m because he was in the last year of his contract but Saints would demand huge fees for Van Dijk, Bertrand, Ward-Prowse and Redmond, all of whom are tied to long-term deals. Spurs wanted to sign Sadio Mane in the summer but Liverpool, who have had great success at signing en masse from St. Mary’s, offered more money and higher wages.
“Sometimes that is the situation: you cannot compete with another club. That’s something everyone knows,” admitted Pochettino. If Spurs’ new recruitment team are looking for more sensible signings, though, the manager’s former club would be a good place to start.
Dan is ESPN FC’s Tottenham correspondent. Follow him on Twitter: @Dan_KP.
Southampton boss Claude Puel has revealed he played a trick on James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond before telling the pair they had been called up to the England squad.
Ward-Prowse and Redmond thought they were in trouble when the Frenchman hauled them into his office, with Puel teasing the uncapped pair before giving them the good news that they were in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the forthcoming internationals against Germany and Lithuania.
“I told them I had a problem with their attitude in the training session, and to ask their opinion,” said the Frenchman ahead of the Super Sunday clash with Tottenham, live on Sky Sports.
"Then after I told them the news I said I couldn’t understand why.
"But of course it’s fantastic for them and for the club. It’s a good thing for them and congratulations to them and to the club.
“All the staff who train them have been important for their progress and it’s a good reward for all.”
Ward-Prowse has been with Southampton since the age of eight, and the club celebrated his call-up by posting a video of him as a 13-year-old stating his desire to play for England one day.
“The policy in this club for a lot of seasons has been to work with quality, for the promotion and evolution of young players, and it’s important we continue,” added Puel.
"He’s an intelligent player, he wants to make progress. It’s easy to train James.
"For Nathan, he’s also a talented player, but sometimes he didn’t listen enough. But he has made progress since the beginning of the season.
“It’s important he understands he has all the quality to become a very good striker with his feet and his quality. He can score all the goals and give good assists. It’s a good reward for them and their work.”
Watch Tottenham v Southampton this weekend. Coverage of the Super Sunday game starts at 1pm on Sky Sports 1 HD, followed by Manchester City v Liverpool.
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James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond thought they were in trouble when Southampton boss Claude Puel hauled them into his office.
But the Southampton duo were delighted when they left after their manager told them they had been named in the England squad.
Midfielder Ward-Prowse and winger-turned-striker Redmond were two of England boss Gareth Southgate’s surprise choices for the forthcoming internationals against Germany and Lithuania.
And Puel could not resist teasing the uncapped pair before giving them the good news.
‘I told them I had a problem with their attitude in the training session, and to ask their opinion,’ said the Frenchman.
'Then after I told them the news I said I couldn’t understand why.
'But of course it’s fantastic for them and for the club. It’s a good thing for them and congratulations to them and to the club.
‘All the staff who train them have been important for their progress and it’s a good reward for all.’
Ward-Prowse has been with Southampton since the age of eight, and the club celebrated his call-up by posting a video of him as a 13-year-old stating his desire to play for England.
Such is the impression Ward-Prowse has made on Puel, the 22-year-old would even have his manager’s blessing to ask his daughter out.
‘The policy in this club for a lot of seasons has been to work with quality, for the promotion and evolution of young players, and it’s important we continue,’ added Puel.
'You can see with James, I looked at the interview when he was young, it was the same spirit - I think James is the ideal son-in-law!
'He’s an intelligent player, he wants to make progress. It’s easy to train James.
'For Nathan, he’s also a talented player, but sometimes he didn’t listen enough. But he has made progress since the beginning of the season.
'It’s important he understands he has all the quality to become a very good striker with his feet and his quality. He can score all the goals and give good assists.
| Southampton team news: Tottenham (A) | Southampton manager Claude Puel has handed out the latest squad news ahead of his side’s clash with Tottenham at … 17-03-2017 |
| Tottenham vs Southampton - Predicted XI | Southampton are looking to make it three Premier League wins on the bounce this Sunday as they take on Tottenham … 17-03-2017 |
Southampton Football Club is delighted to announce that youngster Jake Vokins has signed a professional contract at St Mary’s.
The converted left back put pen-to-paper earlier today on his 17th birthday to commit his future to the club for the next two-and-a-half years.
The former midfielder enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks last season when deputising for Saints’ Under-18s aged just 15, before making the step up into the club’s Under-21 side.
This season, Vokins has gone on to play regularly in the Saints’ Under-23s this season, and made his debut for England’s Under-17s during February.
Vokins highlighted that the faith shown in him by the club from a young age was key in his decision to sign.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” he said. “It’s a dream come true and it’s something I’ve wanted to do since I started coming down here as a kid with my parents. I’ve been here for a very long time and to eventually sign a contract is an incredible feeling.
“Every day is enjoyable when you’re playing football because it’s a dream job, so I’m very happy.
“The opportunities are given to us here,” Vokins added. “I was playing in the U23s at a very young age and the coaches put their trust in you and help all the young players coming through every day.
“We’ve got a very talented group around us and we’re progressing every day and working on things every week.
“Training with the first team has been incredible and playing in the Under-23s regularly has also been a very big achievement.
“You’ve got the likes of Gareth Bale and Luke Shaw and you see them now playing for their countries, so it’s a big inspiration.”
There was a game against Arsenal in September 2012, early in the first season back in the Premier League for Southampton, that stands out in Adam Lallana’s memory as an example of how things were in the days before his game and his philosophy on football were transformed.
He makes it clear, as we sit together on a sunny afternoon at Melwood, that he means it as no slight on his former manager Nigel Adkins, who was in charge that day Southampton were beaten 6-1 at the Emirates. It was the kind of result that can befall newly-promoted teams when they come up against the established powers, although at the time Lallana was yet to learn there was another way.
“It was the longest game of my life. We sat back and whenever we did win the ball we were miles from their goal. Then the following March under [Mauricio] Pochettino we played Liverpool and we won. We went man-for-man at goal-kicks and pressed them high and we were winning the ball back in our attacking third which meant that for players like me we were closer to the goal. That meant more chances.
“It also meant you had to work harder and faster to win the ball back rather than sitting back as we had at the Emirates. Speaking selfishly, having to counter-attack is not one of my strengths. That opened my eyes to being brave, being fit and having 11 people willing to work as one.”
Mauricio Pochettino could be without five players for Tottenham’s game at home to Southampton on Sunday.
Pochettino will make late decisions on Kyle Walker and Victor Wanyama after defender Walker hurt his ankle at home on Monday while midfielder Wanyama sustained a knock against Millwall last weekend.
Harry Kane (ankle), Danny Rose (knee) and Erik Lamela (hip) are all out but Mousa Dembele is available again after recovering from an ankle problem.
Southampton boss Claude Puel will choose from an unchanged squad at Tottenham on Sunday.
Striker Charlie Austin is close to resuming training after a shoulder injury and defender Jeremy Pied is also making good progress after a knee operation and could train next week.
Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, full-back Matt Targett and centre-half Virgil Van Dijk are still out injured.
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