Tottenham enjoyed a fruitful international break with no fresh injury concerns, Ange Postecoglou has confirmed. The two-week break has also served as time to recover for those struggling before the fortnight away.
“First thing is all the internationals got through unscathed,” the head coach revealed on Friday. “Most of them got meaningful game time too which is important so they’ve all come back all good.”
It has left his squad in a strong position to attack the remainder of the season. Spurs know that they will be able to go ahead of Aston Villa and into fourth – even temporarily – with a win over Luton on Saturday.
Already with a game in hand, Tottenham can pile the pressure on their Champions League rivals ahead of the visit of Wolves for Unai Emery’s side. Postecoglou’s preparations have gone about as well as they could have, too.
“Micky’s [Van de Ven] the one who missed the last game, he’s trained the last couple of days and is available,” the boss said on Friday ahead of the game. He was taken off against Villa in the crushing win with a worrying injury initially due to his history, but Postecoglou quickly put that at ease.
Outside of the long-term absences in Ryan Sessegnon, Fraser Forster, and Manor Solomon, there isn’t too much cause for concern. Despite Richarlison not being in action for Brazil there is nothing to worry about.
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“Yeah, he’s okay,” Postecoglou said. “He’s had a bit of a knee niggle and we’ve kind of been managing him. Brazil managed him but he trained today and he feels good so he’s available.”
Fellow South American Cristian Romero is also a minor doubt simply due to when he arrived back at the club. Playing across the world on Wednesday morning, the defender didn’t return to England until Thursday, allowing him little time to prepare for the clash with Luton.
How he holds up may well be one of the few bits of uncertainty to look out for. Elsewhere, Postecoglou also addressed Rodrigo Bentancur’s admission that he has been playing with a broken toe in recent weeks. “He has got nine others,” the Australian joked.
“You know, I don’t think anyone could question Rodrigo’s courage with what he’s had to deal with recently. He didn’t want to stop playing, the medical advice was he could keep playing so he has still been training and playing. He hasn’t missed a session as far as I can see and I think it’s better now anyway so it’s all fine.”
The Uruguay midfielder said last week: “The truth is that now the ankle is fine, luckily the knee has recovered, nothing to speak of other than just one broken toe. I broke the little toe of the left foot two or three weeks ago, but this one I’m still playing the same.
“I broke one of my phalanx and I would have had to stop for three or four weeks so that it could heal but it wasn’t possible. It was before the Crystal Palace match in London in a training session with a team-mate, but it’s almost there.
“I’m playing with my toe recovering but the truth is that once I warm up I forget it. I did not want to stop, so I’m fine and feeling good 100%.”
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