(Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur will not contest midfielder Moussa Sissoko’s violent conduct charge by the Football Association over an incident involving Bournemouth’s Harry Arter, manager Mauricio Pochettino said.
Sissoko, who came on as a substitute in Tottenham’s 0-0 draw against Bournemouth on Saturday, appeared to elbow Arter in the face in the second half but escaped punishment. The incident was not seen by the match officials, but caught on video.
The France international is likely to be handed a three-match ban, which would mean he misses Tuesday’s League Cup tie against Liverpool, and league games against Leicester City and Arsenal.
“After reviewing the video we have said that we accept the charge and now we move forward,” Pochettino told reporters on Monday.
“I have seen it on TV and I have to say it wasn’t intentional, but the elbow was in Arter’s face, so we accept the charge and move forward with three games suspension.
“It is true that it is a blow. We are in a period when we need all the squad fit to compete. We have four big matches ahead and it is difficult now because Moussa is a player who was in our plans to play tomorrow.”
Pochettino added that goalkeeper Michel Vorm would start in goal for the clash against Juergen Klopp’s side, while defender Toby Alderweireld, recovering from injury, would miss the game.
Striker Harry Kane, who has also been sidelined with injury, was making progress, the Argentine added.
“It’s always difficult to play a big team like Liverpool. It’ll be tough. They aren’t in Europe and have a very strong squad.
“When you are involved in many competitions like we are, you can see that I rotate the squad in different games. But we have a squad who deserve to play. They are working so hard to play. So it’s about balance.”
(Reporting by Nivedita Shankar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Ian Chadband)
