The Tottenham Hotspur fans here in the Transfer Tavern will be hoping to bounce back from their 3-1 defeat to champions Man City tonight away at Brighton. Certainly, most of the fans will be having one eye set for the weekend’s semi-final match against Man United, as they hope ‘home’ advantage plays right into their hands.

Tottenham’s upturn in form has seen them leap-frog above Chelsea in the Premier League into the much coveted Champions League spots, and after the Easter weekend win over the Blues they have opened up a sizeable gap with only five league games to play. Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping to pick up the win today against struggling Brighton, in a bid to keep this recent run going.

Spurs will be further buoyed by the return of their star striker Harry Kane from injury in recent weeks and if Pochettino wants to be back in among the big boys again next season our regulars know that he is key to achieving that.

However, if Pochettino is to progress further next season in the league, and more importantly to our regulars this year in the FA Cup, then rest and rotation are key with a squad like the Argentine has got. With that in mind, our landlord takes a look at what TWO players the Lillywhites boss should rest today to ensure the win at weekend…

Christian Eriksen

The Danish international is one of Pochettino’s main men in the team this season and in recent months he’s really shown an upturn in class. Again after opening up a seven-point gap between themselves and fifth-placed Chelsea, Pochettino could be of the thinking that he has the small luxury of starting to rest key players in a bid to secure an FA Cup victory this season.

Pochettino could start to play around with various players in the midfield and even blood some youngsters into the first-team whilst playing a team who have not one in four games.

Harry Kane

The Spurs man has been in inspired form once again this season and much of Spurs’ upturn in form is down to the England man’s brilliance. While he featured last week, there is no reason now to rush him back into the fold full time, especially with an FA Cup final place at stake the weekend after.

Spurs have a huge semi-final match in the FA Cup against Man United coming up on the horizon, which surely Pochettino will want to go all guns blazing for, especially as he is so close to possibly securing his first trophy in England and with Spurs.

The Argentine will be desperate to bring in some silverware, and resting Harry Kane smartly may be the key to unlocking the team’s success.