'He had to go' - Mourinho explains Dier's trip to the loo against Chelsea

Jose Mourinho gave his account of Eric Dier’s unexpected trip to the loo during Tottenham’s Carabao Cup victory against Chelsea.

Erik Lamela’s late goal salvaged Spurs a 1-1 draw in their last-16 Carabao Cup clash against Mourinho’s old side Chelsea on Tuesday before prevailing 5-4 on penalties.

But Dier’s sudden disappearance down the tunnel with Mourinho chasing him towards the end of the match stole the headlines. The pair returned minutes later, with the player resuming his role in defense.

And after the match, Mourinho confirmed that nature had called.

“What happened to Eric Dier is not normal,” the Spurs boss told Sky Sports.

“I have to praise him in a special way. It should be forbidden for a player to play two games in 48 hours at this level [after he played against Newcastle]. What he did is not human to do.

“He had to go [when he ran off] – he had no chance! Maybe it is a normal thing when you are completely dehydrated which is the case, I had to put pressure on him to get back but he is a great example for everybody. If the authorities don’t care about players, I care.”

Dier played his second full match in the space of just 48 hours on Tuesday, having faced Newcastle United in Sunday’s 1-1 draw.

“Everyone can imagine!” he said.

“I am OK but that was a first for me. There was nothing I could do about it and when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go. Some things you can’t stop.

“I don’t know if Jose understood what I was doing to begin with. I told Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Toby Alderweireld as I was going off, I simply had to go.

“I was struggling with stomach cramps, it had got too bad.”