Work to start laying the pitch at Tottenham’s behind-schedule new stadium is expected to begin today, with the club continuing to target moving in before Christmas.

The pitch will be installed on three retractable trays that will slide back underneath the stadium’s South Stand when NFL games are played on the artificial turf that was fitted below the grass surface earlier this summer. It could take up to four weeks for the pitch to fully bed-in, but it is believed it would be playable within a fortnight.

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has said he is “confident” his team will play in the 62,062-seat stadium before Christmas, with Burnley’s visit on December 15 increasingly looking like a potential opener.

Delays to the stadium, plus the unavailability of Wembley on the weekend of October 27-28, has left Spurs facing four games in nine days after being drawn at London rivals West Ham in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

Spurs’ Premier League match against Manchester City has been moved to Monday, October 29, and they will likely face the Hammers 48 hours later — on the Wednesday — before playing Wolves on the following Saturday and then PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League three days later.

Meanwhile, Spurs face an anxious wait to discover the extent of injuries to Mousa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen ahead of Wednesday’s crunch Champions League tie against Barcelona.

The Belgium duo were replaced at half-time in the 2-0 win at Huddersfield on Saturday after Vertonghen felt his right hamstring and Dembele suffered a knock to a leg. Both players will have scans today, provided the swelling has subsided, but they are considered major doubts for Barca’s visit to Wembley. However, Christian Eriksen (abdomen) and Hugo Lloris (thigh) are more likely to feature after missing the win at the John Smith’s Stadium, which was sealed by Harry Kane’s first-half double.

Dele Alli is definitely out after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring problem and the England midfielder could be out for up to a month, while Serge Aurier (thigh) and reserve keeper Michel Vorm (knee) remain sidelined.

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Barcelona have problems of their own after three straight La Liga matches without a win following the Lionel Messi-inspired 4-0 demolition of PSV in their opening Champions League group game.

They will be without centre-half Samuel Umtiti, who is suspended, while right-back Sergi Roberto picked up an injury in Saturday’s frustrating draw against Athletic Bilbao, meaning Nelson Semedo and summer signing Clement Lenglet are expected to come into the back four. Gerard Pique, the other centre-half, is under pressure following a string of mistakes.

Ahead of the game, Pochettino has reiterated that he could never take charge of Barca, having played for and managed their city rivals, Espanyol. “It is something that is more than understood,” the Argentine told Marca.

Meanwhile, Asian Games gold medallist Heung-Min Son will captain South Korea in home friendlies against Uruguay and Panama on October 12 and 16 respectively.