The world’s most expensive player has not featured since being stretchered off at the end of PSG’s 1-0 home defeat by Olympique Lyonnais on December 13, nearly four weeks ago. This will be the fifth match he has missed since then and it remains to be seen if he will be able to return for Wednesday’s game against Olympique de Marseille in the Trophée des Champions.

“He is being closely followed by the medical staff and it depends on all the tests,” Pochettino said at his eve-of-game press conference, with Neymar on the sidelines alongside Juan Bernat, Presnel Kimpembe, Leandro Paredes, Danilo Pereira and Rafinha.

The presence of Mauro Icardi in the squad is a boost, but Pochettino admitted that he is hoping to improve general fitness in a group of players that has been decimated by injury problems this season.

“Of course we will need to adapt, analyse and listen to the players but also the staff to understand and make sure we take the right decisions,” said the new coach. “The ability to adapt is one of the most important things in life. The circumstances are what they are. We are trying to get the injured players back to have more available. We need to improve in lots of areas, and the physical aspect is one of those.”

PSG drew 1-1 away at AS Saint-Etienne in Pochettino’s debut on Wednesday, a result that left them three points off top spot. The game against Brest marks the former Tottenham Hotspur coach’s first match in charge at the Parc des Princes, where he starred for the club as a player two decades ago.

“It is going to be a special evening for me and a joyful one almost 20 years after a I first put the jersey on. There will be no supporters which is a shame and they will be missed. In any case it already feels like we have been here for a year when it has only been five or six days,” he said.