Alan Shearer expects struggling Tottenham side to raise their game against Ajax

Add as preferred source on Google

Alan Shearer believes that Tottenham find themselves in a difficult position right now, but expects them to raise their game for the European showdown with Ajax on Tuesday night.

Spurs have three defeats in their last four games across all competitions and are having to balance with a number of injury problems.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side still sit third in the Premier league table and have it in their own hands to finish in the top four.

The North London club are also preparing for the first leg of a Champions League semi-final with Ajax on Tuesday, with the tie taking place at home.

Spurs will have to deal without injured Harry Kane and also have Heung-Min Son suspended for the first leg.

Pundit Shearer feels that a lack of depth in the squad is hurting Spurs towards the back-end of the campaign, but feels they can find another gear against Dutch giants Ajax.

“Spurs have got the numbers to cover every position but, as we have seen from their results in their past few league games, they do not necessarily have the quality too,” Shearer told BBC Sport.

“They are suffering at the end of a long, hard season and I still feel they have done incredibly well to be where they are when you consider everything that has been going on, with that lack of new faces and their wait to get into their new ground.

“Pochettino’s main target at the start of the season was probably just to finish in the top four and I am pretty confident they will get what they need to do that, and raise their game when they play Ajax in the semi-final too.”

TBR’s View:

The Champions League semi-final will be one of the biggest nights for some of the Spurs players in their career and they have a chance to make history.

They need to try find a positive result in the home leg and it will be no surprise to see the team find an extra bit of motivation.

It’s natural that Pochettino’s side will have had one eye on the Ajax tie in recent weeks and that perhaps explains two defeats in their last three league games.

If they do play like they did in the loss to West Ham at the weekend, they are likely to get rolled over by an eye-catching Ajax outfit that have been brilliant in Europe this season.