Dele Alli starts, no Gareth Bale or Giovani Lo Celso, but coronavirus rule breaker Sergio Reguilon returns as Tottenham face Brentford for Carabao Cup final spot

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Tottenham Hotspur face their biggest game of the season tonight as they take on Brentford in the Carabao Cup semi-finals – live on talkSPORT.

Two games from glory, and their first silverware since 2008, facing the Championship side will take composure and class from the Lilywhites, who know any slip up will see the familiar ‘Spursy’ tag get a reprisal.

Spurs are looking strong under Mourinho but any side can be shocked in the Carabao Cup

And the magnitude of the game is not lost on their current manager Jose Mourinho.

“Yes, I think so,” he replied when asked if this was the most important game of his tenure so far. “In the perspective of the club chasing silverware for many years, I would say so.

“Of course we always have important matches, last season we had a match at Palace that would give us participation in this season’s Europa League or not.

“The match against Leeds was very important as we went a few games without a victory in the Premier League but I would say a semi-final is always a very important match. The only one more important is a final.”

Danny Greaves, son of World Cup winner Jimmy Greaves, celebrates as his father is finally awarded an MBE

And while many will argue Tottenham should be setting their targets high given some of their early excellent form, their manager was keen to point out how vital each tournament is.

“For me every competition is important,” Mourinho added. “I won the the Carling Cup in my first season after a few months in England in 2004/05, so for me every competition is different and it doesn’t matter the club where you are or the ambitions you have.

“Every competition is important. That is my way of looking at things, especially at a club without silverware for more than one decade.

“After more than one decade, every competition becomes more important and if we win two matches we win a trophy.

Mourinho is a manager who wants silverware at all costs

“Two difficult matches, of course, but if we win we get a trophy which I think would be a very good thing for the club and for the players.

“It was the first for me, February 2005. It is not about me, it is not about me four or five times, or me winning at three clubs, it’s not about me at all.

“It is about my club, it is about the players who want trophies, it is about fans who want trophies and this one is the one where we just need two victories.

“Of course, difficult opponents but we need two victories and need to look at this semi-final with this ambition, respecting a very, very good team who kicked out a few very good Premier League teams out of the competition.”

Petr Cech punched the ball into Jonathan Woodgate’s face at Wembley back in 2008 to hand Spurs their most recent piece of silverware

Tottenham team news

Spurs will not be calling on Erik Lamela for their Carabao Cup semi-final clash with Brentford.

The Argentine’s absence is unexplained currently, but he was pictured breaking coronavirus rules with Giovani Lo Celso and Sergio Reguilon over the festive period.

Matt Doherty is suspended following his red card against Leeds at the weekend and Joe Rodon is cup-tied, joining Lo Celso (hamstring) and Gareth Bale (calf) in missing out.

Reguilon is likely to play despite his recent indiscretion; his rule break may have been viewed differently due to him being on his own at Christmas.

There could also be starts for Dele Alli and Lucas Moura to give rests to Tanguy Ndombele and Steven Bergwijn, who Mourinho has acknowledged is playing through some muscle issues.

Serge Aurier has also had some slight problems so there could be a chance for Japhet Tanganga at right-back.