It was another tough moment for James last weekend when he was clearly emotional at being forced off in the first half of the game against Everton.

It soon emerged that he had suffered a hamstring issue again, and was set for months rather than weeks on the sidelines.

After being named captain over the summer, he has hardly been able to string starts together and lead the team, which has no doubt been extremely annoying for him.

His vice-captain Ben Chilwell has hardly had any better luck. He has not been seen for a while, and is likely not to be on the pitch again in 2023.

It is the right-back though who Pochettino was speaking about today, sharing that he is down at the moment after the original excitement about returning to action.

Pochettino on James

He said: “We need to go in depth in the situation. He is a little bit down as he was excited to come back. We brought him back step-by-step, the perfect way to build his confidence and make a full recovery. It is difficult for him to accept. He is really frustrated.”

The manager will be hoping that Malo Gusto is now fit enough to start on Saturday after he has missed the previous two games through his own injury concerns.

The recently published injury list by the club said he had returned to full training, although it did see three new names added to the list.

As well as James, Robert Sanchez and Marc Cucurella are set for spells on the sidelines after they were also forced off against Everton.