Jose Mourinho reveals reason for Gareth Bale being on the bench against West Ham United

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has revealed the reason for his decision to not start Gareth Bale against West Ham United earlier this afternoon.

Bale was deemed fit to play for the first time since he return to Tottenham on loan from Real Madrid, as he had previously been battling a knee injury that had held him back ever since he was at Real Madrid.

However, Mourinho has spoken in favour of his decision, stating that Spurs "have three incredible attacking players on the bench" in Bale, Lucas Moura and Carlos Vinicius.

Apart from them, Spurs also have some other stars not named in the squad, including Dele Alli and Lamela, as well as Lo Celso, who Mourinho has claimed is "injured".

He added that "This is our squad at this moment, so we have lots of talent in that third of the pitch."

The Portuguese veteran also claimed before the match that he has "found that the message and the philosophy that we want is here," adding that "We don't speak about finishing in the top four, top six, top 10, or to win the cup, we just speak about every match - we go to win."

He concluded by saying "We can lose, we lost against Everton, we drew against Newcastle, but we go to every match - it doesn't matter where or in which competition - we go to every match to win."

Prior to the game, Spurs had picked up seven points from their first four Premier League games, scoring 12 goals in the process.