Mauricio Pochettino has defended his decision to heavily rotate his squad for last week's Europa League tie with Borussia Dortmund, warning that there could be further changes to come.

The Lilywhites came unstuck at the Westfalenstadion in the first leg of the last-16 tie when falling to a resounding 3-0 defeat.

Pochettino made a total of seven changes to his side for the tricky-looking match, including a rest for leading marksman Harry Kane who dropped down to the bench.

Despite being left with it all to do if Tottenham are to keep their European hopes alive, the ex-Southampton boss insists that he stands by his decision to use all the players at his disposal.

"It's important for the supporters to know I believe in all my squad and one negative result does not change my vision of them," he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News. "When I select them, or change or rotate, for me it's clear; if we are in a good period and in a good position in the league then it's because all the players were involved from the beginning.

"I accept the criticism because if you win you are a genius and if not you are a disaster. Sometimes we rotate and sometimes I make a mistake because we analyse our decisions, we can do better and we are open to learning. But it's important to keep them all my players motivated and I need to show I believe in them. If you want success in football the squad is always important.

"We will see about [Christian] Eriksen, but maybe he needs to rest a little bit. Maybe [Mousa] Dembele, too. They have some things, but not big issues. But maybe they are not available tomorrow."

Spurs managed to return to winning ways last time out by picking up a routine 2-0 victory over Aston Villa in the Premier League.