Jose Mourinho wants authorities to look at Stoke dressing room after Neil Warnock's 'pigsty' comment
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ByEurosport
Updated 22/12/2020 at 16:49 GMT
"I'm not going to be the bad guy that is going to make comments about Stoke's away dressing room," Jose Mourinho said ahead of Tottenham's League Cup quarter-final at second-tier Stoke City on Wednesday. Boro boss Neil Warnock recently called the conditions a "pigsty" after his side played Stoke in a Championship match in December.
Mourinho
Image credit: Eurosport
Jose Mourinho did not want to comment about Stoke's temporary away dressing rooms after Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock called the facilities a "pigsty" he "wouldn't have put animals in" following a recent encounter.
However, Spurs boss Mourinho, whose side travel to Stoke in the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday, does believe "football authorities" should look at the conditions of the dressing room after being sent a video by a "colleague".
"I have a video of it," Mourinho said. "A video made from a colleague that works in another team that recently played against them and I was not going to raise the question, you raised that question.
But I think it shouldn't be a question for me, it should be a question for the authorities - all the authorities - football authorities, safety authorities, but not for me. I'm not going to be the bad guy that is going to make comments about Stoke's away dressing room.
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Mourinho won't be 'the bad guy', asks authorities to assess Stoke dressing room
Meanwhile, Mourinho does not believe Tottenham's League Cup quarter-final against Stoke City gives them an "easier" path into the last four.
With Arsenal facing Manchester City and Everton taking on Manchester United in this week's quarter-finals, Spurs have a more favourable tie against second-tier Stoke, with Newcastle also facing a Championship outfit in Brentford.
However, Mourinho believes the gap between the Premier League and Championship is "minimal" as he plots Spurs' path to a first piece of silverware since the 2008 League Cup.
"Even the Championship from the last decade, the difference between Championship and Premier League is minimal," Mourinho said. "The teams are very good. They have very good players and very good coaches.
So even the fact we play Stoke or Newcastle play Brentford doesn't give us easier matches than the others. It's a difficult competition to win and we need to win three matches to win it.
"But we are going in the direction of what we are saying at the beginning of the season. The next match is a match we want to win."
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Spurs were top of the league earlier this month but a point from their last three matches has seen them drop down to sixth and Mourinho is eyeing the League Cup as a chance at redemption.
While the Portuguese has won the League Cup four times, Spurs have not won it since 2008 -- their last trophy.
Mourinho is set to rotate his squad, saying he will play a 'mixture' of his regulars and those who played in the Europa League.
"Clearly some players need to play and deserve to play," the coach said.
"From the ones that are playing more... there are others that we don't have great options. But, of course, I will try to give a little rest to two or three of them."
Additional reporting from Reuters
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