PREM: Tottenham v Cardiff preview

Tottenham v Cardiff preview

Tottenham will have five first-team players unavailable when they take on Cardiff in the Premier League on Saturday.

It was confirmed on Friday that Jan Vertonghen (hamstring) will be out for around six weeks, joining Christian Eriksen (abdominal), Mousa Dembele (thigh), Dele Alli (hamstring) and Serge Aurier (thigh) on the sidelines.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino says the outside perception is Saturday should be an easy game for Spurs, but his players must play at the same level as they did against Barcelona in the Champions League.

"The most difficult game is the game that everyone believes, outside of the team, that you must win," Pochettino said. "For us it's so important to be motivated at the same level. If not we're going to struggle."

Cardiff, who are still looking for their first win of the season, were beaten 2-1 at home by Burnley last weekend but manager Neil Warnock remains in good spirits ahead of a tough trip to Tottenham.

"I don't know how we didn't win last week, but that is life in the Premier League, you've just got to get on with it," Warnock said.

"It was a positive performance other than the result and I thought once again the fans were superb. I'm sure we'll be filling our allocation at Wembley, because they have been pretty amazing away from home as well."

Junior Hoilett has recovered from illness to take his place in the Cardiff squad. He missed Sunday's 2-1 home defeat to Burnley with a virus but has trained fully this week.

Aron Gunnarsson (knee) remains out, but Bluebirds boss Warnock is hopeful the Iceland midfielder might be available for the visit of Fulham after the international break.

Some good news for Tottenham is the return of Michel Vorm to training, and he could be included in the squad on Saturday.