Pochettino: Rochdale's pitch unfit for FA Cup meeting

First Rodney Parade, now Spotland.

Tottenham Hotspur's FA Cup run has toured two of the rougher surfaces in the English Football League, and Mauricio Pochettino appears to have reached the end of his tether with Rochdale's pitch.

The Argentinian manager asked the Football Association to assess the bumps and sand-filled potholes at Spotland before allowing a fifth-round tie between Rochdale and Spurs to go ahead on Feb. 18.

"I think the FA need to assess how the pitch is and then to take a decision about if it's good for the FA Cup, good for the players, good for the teams to play in this type of pitch. In that condition I think it does not help football," Pochettino told The Telegraph's Sam Dean.

"I don't know why what happened, happened with this pitch but it is true that the picture (I have seen) - I think it's not a pitch in a condition to play football."

Spurs toiled with the rutted pitch at Newport County's Rodney Parade, succumbing to an embarrassing 1-1 draw at the League Two side in the previous round. Tottenham completed the job in Wednesday's replay, beating Newport 2-0 at Wembley.

That should serve as encouragement to Rochdale. Keith Hill's third-tier struggler impressively overcame Millwall in Tuesday's fourth-round rematch, adding to confidence gained from Saturday's away victory at fellow relegation candidate Northampton Town.

When asked if he was concerned about his players suffering injuries on Rochdale's turf, Pochettino replied: "Yes, but I think the opponent, too. I think it's a big risk to play in a pitch like this ...

"If it is like I saw in the pictures, I think you cannot play football on it. That is my point of view. But not because we are Tottenham. No, I think Rochdale cannot play football there, too. And it's a massive risk for their players, too."

Pochettino also voiced his intention to discuss potential "solutions" with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.