Newcastle Vs Tottenham, EPL: Postecoglou Says Newcastle Struggles Are 바카라�Cautionary Tale바카라� For CL-Chasing Spurs

Ange Postecoglou feels Newcastle should serve as a cautionary tale for Tottenham about what can happen if a club does not have the squad depth to cope with Champions League football. (More Football News)

Spurs travel to St James바카라� Park on Saturday in pole position to return to Europe바카라�s elite competition after they moved ahead of Aston Villa in the race for fourth last weekend.

It was a different story last season, with Newcastle able to clinch Champions League qualification and they finished 11 points ahead of Tottenham, but it has failed to translate into a period of dominance for Eddie Howe바카라�s Saudi-backed club.

The challenge of competing on four fronts has contributed towards injuries decimating the eighth-placed Magpies, which has often led to Postecoglou citing them as an example over why a top-four finish should not be seen as a guarantee for progression in the long run.

Postecoglou reflected: 바카라�Certainly there is a cautionary tale there that getting into the Champions League also means greater demands."

바카라�Demands on players, demands on the squad and you have to be geared up for it or else it can affect all parts of your season."

바카라�It has been tough on Newcastle this year because the progress last year was fantastic, the reward for that was Champions League and this year for whatever reason it has made it a really challenging season on all fronts for them.바카라�

This is Tottenham바카라�s first return to St James바카라� Park since last season바카라�s 6-1 hammering, which proved to be the nadir of a sorry campaign.

Postecoglou did not feel any need to watch that fixture back but he did reflect on the importance of the 4-1 victory over Newcastle in December.

Spurs entered that match with a lengthy list of absentees and after they had lost four of their past five matches.

바카라�I think it was important in context of the results,바카라� Postecoglou acknowledged.

바카라�You don바카라�t want to go through too long a spell where you바카라�re not picking up wins because obviously that affects the course of your season.바카라�

바카라�I thought our performances prior to that were still pretty strong, we obviously weren바카라�t getting over the line for one reason or another.바카라�

바카라�I thought on that day we played really well. We were really aggressive and I thought our front-third play was probably the area that we got most joy out of on the day. It was a pleasing result, especially at home."

바카라�From the results point of view it was important, but from a performance point of view no more so than any other game.바카라�

Spurs will remain without Richarlison (knee) for the lunchtime kick-off, but the Brazil forward is expected to be fit for the derby meeting with Arsenal later this month.