Mauricio Pochettino is hopeful Tottenham Hotspur will move into their new stadium by Christmas.

Spurs have now gone 500 days without a match in their own ground.

“I am confident,” Pochettino said of the opening of the new White Hart Lane. “This year. I am confident. I had some private conversation with Daniel [the chairman]. I think they are confident. They are working hard to try to find the solution. I hope before Christmas we can play. That’s my wish.”

Pochettino says discussions with Levy are a daily occurrence, but the subject of the stadium, for which the chairman has endured criticism, is not always an easy topic to broach. “Sometimes he tells me, sometimes I open the conversation and say: ‘Daniel, how is the stadium?’ and sometimes it’s tough to explain. But, yes, we hope, and we heard before [that this is possible], I am very confident before the year. I hope after that comment Daniel doesn’t kill me tomorrow.”