Tottenham Hotspur travel to National League side Tamworth in the FA Cup third round on Sunday and Ange Postecoglou must balance the need to rest players with not being on the end of a giant-killing.

Spurs' schedule has been brutal in the past couple of months with a game every three days and double figures when it comes to unavailable players, so the same core 11 or 12 players have been playing most matches. The third round tie against the non-league side from Staffordshire offers a chance to rest a couple of stars but also carries the threat of an embarrassing cup upset if the team is weakened too much.

Spurs travel to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday for the latest north London derby against Arsenal so will need to be fresh against their rivals, who face Manchester United on Sunday in the cup. There is also the element of Tamworth's artificial 3G pitch to take into account for Postecoglou and his team selection for players with any kind of injury risk

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We asked our Tottenham reporters Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest to name the team that they would choose for the FA Cup clash if they were in Postecoglou's shoes. Here's what they went for:

Alasdair Gold - Tottenham correspondent

First off, Postecoglou has to give Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski a rest as they always seem to be running themselves into the ground for the team while one of the two centre-backs, Radu Dragusin or Archie Gray needs to have some time off as they're playing every game.

Personally I'd give Will Lankshear his first start in the FA Cup and I would have done the same with Alfie Dorrington but Postecoglou did not sound as enthused about that thought. James Maddison and Pape Matar Sarr should be fresh after missing the Liverpool game through suspension. Rodrigo Bentancur took a big hit on Wednesday night and has concussion so is out for a couple of weeks.

Timo Werner could well come in to start as well as Sergio Reguilon. Brandon Austin deserves another chance in goal after his impressive display against Newcastle but Antonin Kinsky hadn't played in a number of weeks due to the Czech League shutting down and he needs to get sharpness, used to the way Spurs play and also those English set pieces.

There could be a debut for Yang Min-hyeok at some point, while Mikey Moore will be involved and his fellow academy midfielder Calum Olusesi could also get some minutes. In some positions, Postecoglou might decide to hand some players a half each in order to share out the load.

Gold's team: Kinsky; Spence, Dragusin, Gray, Reguilon; Sarr, Bergvall, Maddison; Moore, Lankshear, Werner.

Rob Guest - Football writer

It's vital that Ange Postecoglou uses Sunday's FA Cup tie against Tamworth as an opportunity to rotate his team ahead of Wednesday's North London Derby. Antonin Kinsky probably will get another start in goal to increase his match sharpness, much to the disappointment of Brandon Austin who played so well against Newcastle United last weekend.

In defence, the boss really could do with sharing the minutes between Pedro Porro and Djed Spence at right-back, with the same then going for Radu Dragusin and Archie Gray at centre-back. Despite Postecoglou's comments regarding Alfie Dorrington, I would personally still start the youngster as his current centre-backs have played so much football recently.

Pape Matar Sarr and James Maddison look certainities to come into the team after missing out through suspension in midweek. Academy ace Callum Olusesi should join the duo in the middle of the park as he has been waiting for his debut to come his way this season after appearing on the bench 13 times.

Mikey Moore, Will Lankshear and Timo Werner then make up the front three to take on the National League side. Yang Min-hyeok will have to wait for his first start but the new arrival could be given a debut off the bench in the second half.

Guest's team: Kinsky; Spence, Dragusin, Dorrington, Reguilon; Olusesi, Sarr, Maddison; Moore, Lankshear, Werner.

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