Authorities should invesigate Stoke's 'pigsty' changing room - Mourinho

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VIDEO SHOWS: NEWS CONFERENCE WITH TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR MANAGER, JOSE MOURINHO, FILE FOOTAGE OF TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR TRAINING

SHOWS:

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 20, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR MANAGER, JOSE MOURINHO, SAYING:

REPORTER, ASKING (OUT OF SHOT): "Jose, I just wondered if you were concerned about the away dressing room at Stoke. Neil Warnock this month described it as a 'pigsty' and said 'it wasn't fit for animals'. Is that something you're aware of at all?"

"Yes, I have a video of it. A video made from colleagues that work in another team that recently played against him and I was not going to raise the question. You raise that question but I think shouldn't be a question for me. It should be a question for the authorities, all the authorities; football authority, safety authorities but not for me. It's is not. I'm not going to be the bad guy that is going to make comments about Stoke away dressing room."

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR MANAGER, JOSE MOURINHO, SAYING:

"To win this tournament you need to win three matches. One against Stoke and then if we beat Stoke then we will have two more matches to play, one or two more matches to play against teams that they have the same ambitions as we have. So, if I'm not wrong then (Manchester) City, Arsenal, Man United, Everton, Newcastle, Brentford, everybody wants the same. Even the Championship from the last decade the difference between the Championship and Premier League is minimal, The teams are very good, they have very good players, they have very good coaches. So, even the fact that we play Stoke or Newcastle play Brentford doesn't give us easier matches than the others. It's a difficult competition to win. We need to win three matches to win it but going in the direction of what we're saying from the beginning of the season, the next match is a match that we want to win and the next match is Stoke."

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - OCTOBER 21, 2020) (UEFA - NO RESALES, NO COMMERCIAL USE. MUST ON-SCREEN COURTESY "©UEFA 2020")

4. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR PLAYERS WALKING OUT ON TO TRAINING PITCH, STRIKER, HARRY KANE AND SON-HEUNG MIN (WEARING A HAT)

5. TOTTENHAM DEFENDER, SERGIO REGUILON (PINK BIB) DOING KICK-UPS WITH BALL / KANE WARMING UP / KANE AND REGUILON SHAKING HANDS BEFORE EMBRACING

6. PLAYERS WALKING ACROSS TRAINING PITCH, INCLUDING GARETH BALE

7. VARIOUS OF TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR'S GOALKEEPERS TRAINING - HUGO LLORIS, JOE HART, PAULO GAZZANIGA AND BRANDON AUSTIN

8. PLAYERS INCLUDING KANE, MIDFIELDER, DELE ALLI, SON , DEFENDER, TOBY ALDWEREIELD, DEFENDER, DAVINSON SANCHEZ, AND BALE WARMING UP

9. TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS

STORY: Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho believes "football" and "safety authorities" should investigate Stoke City's temporary away changing room which has been described as a pigsty.

Spurs travel to play Stoke in the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday (December 23) and Mourinho said he had been sent a video of the changing rooms by a colleague from a team who have played there.

Earlier this month Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock described the facilities like a "pigsty" that he wouldn't put animals in.

Mourinho said he wouldn't make any further comments on the changing rooms but stated to media on Sunday (December 20) that the relevant authorities should address the matter.

As for the tie, Mourinho said the fact Spurs are playing a second-tier Championship team that does not make their route to the semi-finals any easier.

Spurs and Newcastle United both avoided all-Premier League ties with Arsenal taking on Manchester City while Everton host Manchester United this week.

Mourinho said he was wary of the threat posed by Stoke, who have improved after two seasons of struggle since their Premier League relegation and sit seventh in the league in a closely-contested race for Championship playoff spots.

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.

(Production: Tim Hart)