Thomas Frank has confirmed Tottenham defender Cristian Romero is “progressing” in his recovery from injury, while defender Destiny Udogie is yet to return to the grass.
Romero was expected to feature against Aston Villa last weekend but withdrew from the warm-ups with an adductor injury. The Argentina international did not travel to France to face Monaco on Wednesday, either, and looks set to miss out once more against Everton.
Speaking ahead of Tottenham’s clash with Everton on Sunday, Frank admitted his captain is making progress. He said: “Yes, Cuti just walked out on the grass running, some of the performance guys, so positive, progressing, no time frame, but I don’t expect it to be a longer one.”
Udogie was also absent from the Aston Villa squad after he picked up a knee injury on international duty. Frank previously described the knock as “nothing major”. On Friday the Dane added: “Destiny is not on the grass yet, but still progressing, so again, not a longer one.”
An update was also provided on Dominic Solanke, who underwent successful ankle surgery in September. He said: “With Dominic, it’s positive, he’s taking steps in the right direction every day, was on the grass again today on his own, but has now a sustainable amount of pitch sessions in him on his own, so it’s progressing forward.”
Asked for an update on long-term absentees James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, Frank said: “Every head coach, manager wants all the players fit, and we get that, then we complain about the squad being too big, and then you need to disappoint players, but anyway, I rather want that, of course. It is what it is, you’re right, I very, very rarely say anything about injuries, because it is what it is, I need to deal with it, and it’s my job to put the best possible available team on the pitch and get it hopefully clicking.
“Of course there’s some of these, especially Kulusevski and Maddison, proven players that prove in this club for goals and assists and creating things, so they would have been lovely to be able to use, but I think we have some very talented players who are growing.
“Wilson, Xavi, I think Mo has been very good for us as well and I think Richie had a good start to the season, he tried to get up to pace, but the reality is that we are working very hard on getting the flow with the front four, and hopefully it will be better bit by bit. I think it’s fair to say, I can’t remember the amount of games we played, but there have definitely been some good games and good spells where we have been looking very good, so we’ll keep working on it.”
Learn more
