Spurs defeat not down to Eriksen being benched: Pochettino

Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino defended his decision to leave Christian Eriksen out of his starting line-up for Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United, with the future of the Danish playmaker still up in the air. Eriksen, who has a year left on his contract and is reportedly on Real Madrid's radar, came on after 62 minutes but could not prevent Tottenham from suffering their first defeat of the season.