Tottenham vs Stoke: Danny Rose 'hopeful' of being fit despite having stitches to treat head wound

Tottenham Hotspur full-back Danny Rose is optimistic he will be available to face Stoke City on Saturday (9 December), despite suffering a head injury in the Champions League win over Apoel.

Rose, 27, needed "four or five" stitches to treat a wound above his left eye after a clash with Roland Sallai during the second half of the 3-0 success at Wembley.

The England international was replaced by Kyle Walker-Peters for the final third of the game to prematurely curtail just his fifth start of the season, but is hopeful of being fit this weekend.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino didn't want to risk Rose's long-term fitness by keeping him on for the duration of the inconsequential European tie but the ex-Leeds United youngster admits he was frustrated by the decision.

"I wasn't happy but I could tell from the manager's reaction that I had to come off," Rose said, according to Sky Sports. "He said straight away 'you're coming off' and I was disappointed, but it's probably the right decision and hopefully I can recover now and be part of the squad on the weekend."

Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Eric Dier, Jan Vertonghen, Kieran Trippier and Hugo Lloris were rested for the visit of Apoel, but are all expected to return when the domestic campaign resumes.

Though victory over the Greek champions ensures Tottenham progress to the last 16 of Europe's premier club competition with the highest points total of any side, their league form has subsided as a result of their continental exploits.

Spurs have won just one of their last six games in the Premier League and fallen 18 points behind leaders Manchester City and out of the top four and behind north London rivals Arsenal.

But it was this time last season when Tottenham turned around a poor start to the campaign and following the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United won six games on the spin to lay the foundations for a title push in the New Year.

And Rose is hopeful this weekend's visit of Stoke can galvanise the team into a similar run. Tottenham face the Potters at Wembley and then newly-promoted Brighton and Hove Albion prior to a key clash with City on 16 December.

"We have to get our Premier League form back on track because we've not been good enough recently," said Rose. "We're looking forward to concentrating on that and climbing the league.

"Since the manager has been here, we have always had a good December and January. I said to the guys before the game, 'this time last year we lost to Man United and after that we went on a great run throughout Christmas and January'."