Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino backs Erik Lamela to be key man for Spurs

Mauricio Pochettino says Erik Lamela will be vital to Tottenham’s progression after making his first start in over 13 months against Brighton.

The Argentine, who had to undergo two operations on a hip injury over the last year, played 74 minutes of Spurs’ 2-0 win at Wembley Stadium.

While it will take time to build his match fitness back up, the 25-year-old looked at home back in the side and showed enough to suggest he can get back to the levels he reached in the 2015-16 season.

With a hectic festive fixture schedule to come, Pochettino was glad to have his compatriot back.

"I think it is so important, he brought fantastic energy to the team and the last few weeks too," Pochettino told reporters.

"It's normal and he needs time to give his best. I think it's so important for the team to have him fit again and I think he's going to help us a lot."

In Lamela Spurs will have another forward in the mould of Heung-min Son, a player who likes to take on defenders ahead of him, as opposed to looking for a clever pass through.

At Wembley, the north Londoners have struggled to break down teams who come and sit deep, as Brighton did, with Son seemingly the only one causing real trouble to such sides.

While it’s a frustrating watch for fans and staff, Pochettino insists that he has no complaints about the way sides set up against his.

"No, no - anyone can play in the way that they want. Only for us it was difficult like for all the team are difficult to play when you play with an opponent that is playing this way,” Pochettino said when asked if he was frustrated facing defensive sides.

"I am not going to complain how another team play, I only focus and try to help my players to try to find the space and the possibility to have better positions on the pitch, to move the ball quick to try to - from our position to help the team to be better and to try to win the games."