Gareth Bale starts, still no Harry Kane or Dele Alli, while midfielder returns for Jose Mourinho

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Three defeats in a row for Tottenham and Jose Mourinho is struggling big time ahead of their clash with West Brom – live on talkSPORT.

The Baggies are fighting for their Premier League status and gave Spurs a tough match back in November, with the Portuguese’s men claiming a late 1-0 victory.

It was a bad day against Chelsea for Mourinho, as he suffered back-to-back home Premier League defeats for the first time EVER in his managerial career

Criticism seems inescapable for Mourinho but he’s insistent the biggest pressure on him right now is what he places on himself.

And he’s still determined, despite the alarming drop in form, he can help Tottenham claim silverware.

“I put pressure on myself every day,” he said. “I don’t need others to put pressure on me. I put pressure on myself every day. Every day.

“So since 2012 without three defeats in a row? But since when without a title? Maybe I can give one.”

Spurs are well off the pace right now as they aim for the Champions League spots

Mourinho knows nothing less than a win against West Brom on Sunday will do, with some reports even Daniel Levy, his biggest cheerleader, is worried.

His fears could hit another level this week with matches against Everton in the FA Cup and Man City in the Premier League on the horizon, but he insists he’s taking things one day at a time.

“The most important thing now is West Bromwich,” Mourinho added. “I don’t even want to think about Everton or about City.

“I think after City, we go to Austria, again on Europa League, which is a big competition for us, we have good expectations in that competition.

Simon Jordan berates Gareth Bale’s ‘scandalous’ performances since returning to Spurs and says Welshman is no longer fit for purpose

“But I don’t even want to think about that. I want to think about West Bromwich. That’s a big game. Sometimes big games are just against the top six, or the London derbies.

“Other times, big games can be games like this. It’s a big game for West Bromwich, because they need a victory, they need points, they need to survive. They need to get out of where they are.

“It’s a big game for us. Because we need to leave the position where we are, which is not a dramatic position like theirs is, but is a very bad position for us, we have to leave it, we need to win, we need to break the dynamic of three defeats like you saw.

“So it’s a very important match for us. But the reality is that, until the end of the month, we have great motivations in front of us.”

Bale has been a shadow of the player who left Spurs for Real Madrid in 2013 but could he make an impact against West Brom?

Tottenham team news

Mourinho has hinted Harry Kane could return after an ankle injury but maybe from the bench as rushing him could cause ankle issues to reoccur.

Dele Alli (tendon), Giovani Lo Celso (hamstring) and Sergio Reguilon (muscle) are all sidelined, but the former could be under consideration soon.

Tanguy Ndombele took a number of knocks against Chelsea but he’s not listed as a concern, while Moussa Sissoko and a number of others also looked tired in the midweek defeat.

There could also be defensive rotation due to the number of games the club are playing right now.