Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is adamant his club are lucky to be playing their home games at Wembley.
Spurs have been in the national stadium since the beginning of last season and recently committed to staying there until at least January following significant delays to their new stadium.
Fans are beginning to suffer from ‘Wembley fatigue’ and are voting with their feet, with crowd numbers dipping in recent weeks, though midweek games and capped attendances have contributed to that.
The state of the pitch is another factor to contend with as they had to play on a shocking surface 24 hours after an NFL game last week, with it still not being in pristine condition for their Champions League game with PSV this week.
Pochettino, though, insists the club are grateful for Wembley.
“We need to be grateful for Wembley, because without Wembley now we play where?” he said.
“Of course, we cannot blame Wembley and I think we need to be grateful because we can compete in London, close to White Hart Lane, close to our training ground and that is a massive advantage for us.
“Of course, after that you feel disappointed because it’s not your home, it’s not your house.
“But I think the legacy of (chairman) Daniel (Levy) and the board and what the club is doing for the club for the rest of our lives and for the next generation of Tottenham fans, it’s massive.
“That’s why we need to have patience because if we wait maybe a few weeks more, or months, to finish the stadium.
“The other day we were talking in the meeting with the players and all the staff, and we start to feel it’s so close and it will be a big boost for us to compete there.”
Tottenham’s new 62,000-seater home, which was due to be open for the start of the season and then put back to September, still has no official opening date.
Frustrations of the fans, who are itching to get back home, are rising, but Pochettino has again urged them to see the bigger picture.
“I think for our fans, they need to start to create in their minds and think that one day more in Wembley is one day less to being in our new stadium,” he said.
“And that starts to create your motivation and inspires you to feel happy, optimistic and to translate a very good energy.
“That is the most important thing. If we’re capable of arriving and starting to play in our new stadium in a very good position, being involved in all competitions, I think our fans in our new stadium are going to be key and decisive maybe to try to win something.”
