For Mauricio Pochettino, Toby Alderweireld’s assured return to the Tottenham team on Tuesday was as inconvenient as it was reassuring.

The Spurs manager has spent the past three weeks insisting that Alderweireld lacks the form and fitness for a place in Spurs’ squad but the centre-half showed no signs of rust on his first Premier League appearance since October in a frustrating 1-1 draw with Brighton.

Alderweireld had not played for Spurs since the FA Cup game at Rochdale in mid-February but his commanding performance at the Amex will make it difficult for Pochettino to justify his exclusion from Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United on footballing grounds.

The Belgian was sidelined for more than three months after tearing his hamstring in November but he did not look like an unfit player last night, comfortably shackling Brighton veteran Glenn Murray, who has scored six times against London opposition this season, and using the ball positively.

Davinson Sanchez - who was rested for the trip after being run ragged by Raheem Sterling in the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City last weekend — is expected to return to the back four at Alderweireld’s expense against United.

The Colombian has enjoyed a fine maiden season in England but he is not yet in Alderweireld’s class and, on paper at least, Spurs will miss the Belgium international this weekend. Although Pochettino has said Alderweireld’s absence since he returned to training is not “personal”, sources at the club say it is inevitable that he will be sold in the summer.

Contract talks between Alderweireld and the club broke down at the beginning of the year and both parties have since abandoned hope of reaching a solution. Alderweireld’s deal, due to expire in 2019, is worth £50,000 a week and the 29-year-old was demanding a long-term contract worth more than treble that to see him towards the end of his career.

Spurs were reluctant to meet Alderweireld’s demands, with Harry Kane their best paid player on around £100,000 a week, plus bonuses. The club can trigger an option to extend Alderweireld’s contract by a year to 2020 but that would activate a buyout clause allowing him to leave if they receive a £25m bid before the final two weeks of the summer 2019 transfer window.

Spurs have decided to cash in on the Belgian this summer, when they can still hope to command a fee of closer to £50m. Pochettino has therefore adopted a hardline selection stance on a player with no long-term future at Tottenham — just as he did with Kyle Walker, who was dropped for last season’s FA Cup semi-final before joining City in the summer. The Argentine is obsessed with the collective and if, as expected, Alderweireld does not start one of Spurs’ biggest games in the past decade, it will be understandable — if difficult to explain for football reasons, given his quality.

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Pochettino only has two pressing selection decisions for the semi-final. Back-up goalkeeper Michel Vorm has played in every round of the domestic cups and the manager must decide whether to stick with the Dutchman ahead of club captain Hugo Lloris.

Pochettino promised Vorm would play in last year’s FA Cup semi-final, only for him to pick up an injury in training, but Lloris returned to the XI for the 2015 League Cup Final after Vorm had played in the earlier rounds. Lloris made mistakes leading to goals in three straight matches against Chelsea, Stoke and City, so the Frenchman, who could not stop Pascal Gross’s penalty on Tuesday, would welcome a show of faith from his manager.

If there was any doubt about who would play at right-back, Serge Aurier ruled himself out of contention with another costly error on Tuesday, tripping Jose Izquierdo for Brighton’s spot-kick two minutes after Kane had opened the scoring at the start of the second half.

Pochettino also has a choice between Heung-Min Son and Erik Lamela in attacking midfield. Son was Spurs’ liveliest player against the Seagulls, creating Kane’s 48th-minute goal — his 26th in the League this season — with some typically quick footwork and the South Korean’s pace and movement would surely cause United problems.

But Pochettino has often preferred Lamela on the big occasions, including against City and in the Champions League last-16 first leg against Juventus. Where Son offers penetration and goals, Lamela provides energy and physicality in the final third.

Tuesday's draw moved Spurs eight points clear of fifth-placed Chelsea, who can close the gap to five with four matches remaining if they beat Burnley on Thursday.