Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Erik Lamela is "frustrated" to be out of the team as he continues to recover from injury.

The Argentine, who is the only injured first-team player in the squad, has not featured since the end of October after he picked up a hip problem in training.

In order to speed up the recovery, Lamela has returned to his former club Roma - not only to seek help from their physios, but to change his mindset.

The club have not provided a timescale on the player's recovery.

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"He went to Italy now. They need to change a little about the atmosphere, he has strong links in Rome," The Independent quotes Pochettino as saying.

"Not only do we believe it's important to change a bit his mind, if not he asks to finish his recovery time there. The club and the staff believe it was right that situation.

"We hope that after that period he will come again and be available to start training with the team.

"It's always difficult for players who spend a lot of time more than he believe, and with the energy of the team sometimes he is frustrated he cannot be involved today as it's only him out of the group."

At the moment, Spurs are in positive form having climbed to third in the Premier League table, winning their last five top-flight games on the bounce.

Their most recent win - a 2-0 triumph over Chelsea - could prove to be a significant one in the season as they stopped Antonio Conte's outfit from setting a new league record of 14 straight victories.

On Sunday, Tottenham switch their attention to the FA Cup when they face Aston Villa in the third round on home turf.

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