The stadium, on the site of their old White Hart Lane ground, is now not set to open until at least January 2019.

Before Tuesday's Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven at Wembley, he said: "We hope we can pay back all the effort by winning on Tuesday, it's the only way we can repay them.

"Of course, we all expected to be in the new stadium in this period."

He added: "We cannot ask more from them. We, the club, [chairman] Daniel [Levy], we feel sorry for them. We can only be grateful - as to be at Wembley for them is tougher than it is for us."

Tottenham have used Wembley as their home since the start of the 2017-18 season, with PSV visiting for a Champions League Group B fixture that kicks off at 20:00 GMT.

Stadium management inspected the pitch on Monday, with Uefa confirming that Tuesday's match will take place as scheduled.

That is despite concerns over the state of the pitch for Spurs' Premier League game against Manchester City on 29 October, just a day after an NFL game, with gridiron markings and wear and tear clearly visible.