Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe rested due to pitch concerns

Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas has revealed that the artificial pitch in Norway has forced him to leave Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe out of his squad to face Tromso IL.

The North London club have already qualified for the knockout stages of the Europa League having won all four of their fixtures so far.

Paulinho, Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker, Sandro, Younes Kaboul, Emmanuel Adebayor, Christian Eriksen, Danny Rose and Harry Kane have also been left at home.

"We decided to leave some players out," the Portuguese coach told reporters.

"Not just because of injury, but also the recent international fixtures and as a precaution because of previous injuries they've had on artificial pitches, in the cases of Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe."

Defoe has scored seven goals in five games in Europe this season.