Mauricio Pochettino is contemplating resting Harry Kane for Tottenham's Europa League trip to Anderlecht despite a lack of fit forwards.
Head coach Pochettino has been rocked by injuries to Son Heung-min (foot) and Nacer Chadli (ankle) in the past week.
And Pochettino is considering leaving Kane on the bench to protect the England striker for the Group J clash in Brussels.
"Yes, it is possible he will start on the bench, as we need to manage in a good way and assess and analyse every little detail," Pochettino, whose side have four points from their first two Europa League fixtures, said.
"The player always wants to play. Afterwards I decide if the player is wrong.
"We need to assess because at the end of the game against Liverpool last week, Harry had a small problem."
Much was made of Tottenham's failure to sign another out-and-out striker in the last transfer window with a well-publicised pursuit of West Brom's Saido Berahino proving fruitless.
But Pochettino said this is not the time to consider whether to delve into the market in January as Son and Chadli could be back by that time.
"Before January, Chadli and Son will be back," he added. "It is too far to January to decide - Son maybe three weeks maximum and Chadli maybe four, five or six.
"We have other players in the squad and we believe in all players. It is not a big problem. If we arrive in January and we believe we need to sign some players we will decide. I'm happy with the squad we have."
