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Tottenham vs Man City: Spurs won't sit back in Champions League second leg says Danny Rose

Tottenham will travel to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night 1-0 ahead on aggregate in the knowledge that they can progress with a draw or a narrow defeat

Jonathan Liew
Chief Sports Writer
Thursday 11 April 2019 11:44 BST
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Mauricio Pochettino admits Harry Kane could miss rest of Spurs' season

Danny Rose insists that Tottenham will not play a counter-attacking game in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City.

Tottenham will travel to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night 1-0 ahead on aggregate in the knowledge that they can progress with a draw or a narrow defeat.

But Rose said Tottenham would be proactive, aggressive and seek to win the game against the Premier League champions.

“It’s not in the manager’s DNA to sit back and soak up pressure and hit teams on the counter-attack,” Rose said. “That’s not his game. He wants us to show our identity from the first minute, and it’ll be the same [on Wednesday]. We’ll go there to try and win. That’ll be the plan.

“He wants everybody to show their character, whether we’re losing or winning. And I can tell everybody now: the plan will be not to go there and sit back. Because that’s not him. That’s not us. The tie’s not over, and we’ll go there next week fully looking to win the game and progress to the semi-finals.”

Tottenham are likely to have to play the second leg without Harry Kane, whose injury on Tuesday night may well put him out for the rest of the season. Rose admitted that the injury may well be significant. “We all hope it’s nothing serious, but if Harry ever leaves a pitch, you know that it’s not going to be the best news,” Rose said. “He’s the sort of player that will stay to end with one leg. I hope he’s OK.”

Rose also thanked the public for their positive reaction to his recent comments on racism in football. Last week Rose claimed that he “can’t wait” to retire from the game as a result of the abuse he has received, and he revealed that he had received a number of supportive messages in the meantime.

“Despite what people think, I feel a bit uncomfortable with the headlines,” he said. “But it is an unfortunate thing that’s happening now in football.

"We saw it at the weekend in the Championship [involving Derby’s Duane Holmes and Wigan’s Nathan Byrne], and it looks like it’s something that’s creeping back in.

“I had some great support throughout the week, and I hope that once the season’s finished, people can sit down and discuss how to eradicate these unfortunate things that are happening now in football. It’s a shame, really. But I’ve had some great support, and would like to thank everyone who’s shown me that support.”

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