Ange Postecoglou has revealed Tottenham are more likely to sign players in January that add squad depth rather than those who will push for a place in their starting lineup.

The Spurs manager also went on to explain why he believes the new format of the expanded Champions League has made the January transfer window a harder market to navigate.

A high tally of injuries and suspensions in recent weeks led Postecoglou to reveal on Tuesday that Spurs will try to sign “reinforcements” next month.

Last January, the club signed centre-back Radu Dragusin from Genoa for £21.5million and also recruited Timo Werner on an initial six-month loan from RB Leipzig.

Postecoglou explained that it is harder to sign players in January who will push for a long-term place in the starting lineup, suggesting squad depth is the main priority.

“I think improving the team may be a bit challenging, but improving the depth of our squad, I think there's always possibilities out there,” he said.

“It is a bit more challenging this January because of the way European football is set up.

“Because sometimes in January you would find maybe a couple of clubs out of Champions League contention that were thinking, ‘well, you know what, we're not in the Champions League, so maybe just release a couple from our roster’.

“That doesn't exist now because all European competitions are kind of still in the balance, so that probably adds another layer of difficulty to it. But we'll endeavour because I think there's definitely a need for us to reinforce. We'll just see how successful we are in that.”

Postecoglou also revealed that although there is a small chance Ben Davies recovers from his hamstring injury in time to feature against Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day, he may not be risked until the Wolves game three days later.

“Yeah, he’s training,” the Spurs manager said of Davies. “Ben will train today [Christmas Eve] and we just can’t risk any more injuries, so my gut tells me that’s only two sessions with the team before Boxing Day, so probably wiser to save him for the weekend. But the plan is to have him training and potentially be available.”