Stellini: Tottenham cannot take risks with fit-again Richarlison

The Brazil international has endured a difficult campaign since a summer move from Everton having failed to score for Spurs in the Premier League.

A string of muscle injuries have not helped Richarlison’s cause and his latest occurred minutes into a 3-3 draw at Southampton last month after he looked to experience discomfort in the warm-up.

Stellini feels it should be a learning curve for the 25-year-old to be more open about his fitness and not attempt to play through the pain in order to impress.

“We have to take care with Richy. To give him training and the right timing to play. To not take risks,” Tottenham’s acting head coach said ahead of Bournemouth’s visit this weekend.

“He’s not the only one who wants to be on the pitch every time. Every player wants to be on the pitch.

“Sometimes they hide their condition to try to play, to have one possibility to score, to do something good.

“But now when you live experience like Richarlison this season, maybe they can grow in their mindset. I hope that Richy understands that we are taking care of him.”

Tottenham’s other injured players are not back yet with Ben Davies (hamstring), Emerson Royal (knee) and Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) “working hard” but training alone.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo Bentancur (knee) is out for the rest of the season and Yves Bissouma (ankle) is still sidelined.

It reduces Spurs’ options for the run-in but it will not prevent Stellini from trying to get his side to play more attacking football in their quest to secure Champions League qualification.

He added: “We have to play the final eight games like eight finals. We started with Brighton and now we have eight games.

“We have to play attacking football. We are trying to push more to create more chances, to try to shoot more on target, to create something that can create a good atmosphere in the stadium and to get the crowd behind us.

“To play with patience and not to rush in the game or be frantic on the ball. This is the way. It is a long time we work on this aspect. It is not only in the last aspect we work. We want to see the players improving under this aspect.

“I don’t think we are speaking about a huge change. It is the work that we work on for a long time.

“It is about confidence, patience during the game and the style of this team to play in the right way for the characteristics of the players.”

Stellini also revealed he had not tried to have clear-the-air talks with Brighton counterpart Roberto De Zerbi, who accused him of a lack of respect after last weekend’s 2-1 home win.

“This type of thing stays on the pitch, you forget this type of situation immediately after the game,” he said. “There’s nothing to say. Everything is fine for me.”