Football
Dan Kilpatrick, Tottenham Correspondent 6y

Tottenham's Danny Rose 'fuming' over NLD axe, denies Pochettino bust-up

Danny Rose has said he was "fuming" to be left out of the Tottenham squad for Saturday's North London derby at Arsenal but he denied suggestions of a rift with manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Rose was not included in the travelling party for the 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium last weekend and instead trained with the reserves at Hotspur Way, the club's Enfield base, in what Pochettino described as a move to build-up his fitness.

After the game, Pochettino dismissed suggestions of a fresh row with Rose -- who was fined two weeks' wages in August for criticising the club's wage structure and transfer policy in an explosive newspaper interview -- and the left-back returned to the team for Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League win at Borussia Dortmund, completing 90 minutes.

Afterwards the player confirmed: "My reaction was I was fuming, I was angry, but understanding at the same time.

"There's been no bust-up, there's been no argument, there's been no falling out. The manager just explained that he thought it'd be better for me to do a hard session on Saturday, which I did.

"I did that. I understand that there's been a lot of reports but it's not welcomed, and it's not true, and whether I'd been at the Emirates or not, I think everybody's losing sight that I couldn't have stopped the referee or linesman from making bad decisions that led to us conceding.

"Me and the manager have not fallen out, not had an argument. I was angry about not being involved in the squad, but at the same time, I understand and I respect his views.''

Rose has only started three games for Tottenham since his return but feels he is now ready for a run in the team.

"Whatever fitness I have, I still feel that I'm one of the best in the league, I don't care how fit I am, I believe in my ability,'' Rose said. "At Tottenham, you have to have an exceptional level of fitness. I'm not there yet because I've been out for a long time. I'm still catching up. As I said, I respect the manager and his coaching staff's views.

"I wasn't happy but it's gone now, we all have to move on. When I get the opportunity to play, like I did tonight, I have to try and do as well as I can.''

And the defender insists he remains committed to Tottenham this season.

"Nothing's changed,'' Rose said. "Everyone just needs to understand that me and the manager want the same thing for this season -- we want to win something. So I'm on the same page.''

Asked how close he is to 100 percent, Rose added: "I don't know. Before today I thought I was close and then first half I was horrendous, I thought I was getting hooked at half-time, and it gave me a bit of a reality check -- maybe I'm not as close as I thought I was. In the second half I thought I did better, I contributed quite a lot in the second half. I just hope I can get many more minutes.

"You can only get fit by playing games. There's only so many training sessions you can do. I don't think I'm far off but I hope I can play as many more games to help me get there as quickly as possible.''

Rose has previously said it was "not nice" watching Spurs' 3-1 win over Real Madrid from the bench, while he has described his nine-month absence with a knee injury from January as "mentally hard."

After the win in Dortmund, settled by second half goals from Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min, Pochettino made a point of singling out Rose for praise.

Responding to a question about Dele Alli's performance, Pochettino told a postmatch news conference: "I'm not only proud of him but the whole team. Danny Rose was fantastic too. We must recognise that. In the second half, and the whole game, after 10 months injury it's difficult. The performance was great."

Information from the Press Association was used in this report.

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