Evening Standard
·25 February 2025
Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou reveals triple injury boost as he confirms Europa League plan
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Evening Standard
·25 February 2025
First-choice centre-backs closing in on a welcome return to action for Spurs
Good news: Ange Postecoglou’s options are set to be bolstered in the coming weeks
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Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou says absent trio Dominic Solanke, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven should "definitely" be fit for the Europa League last-16 decider against AZ Alkmaar and have an "outside chance" of featuring in the first leg.
Postecoglou's lengthy injury list has significantly cleared in the past fortnight but he remains without Solanke and the two centre-backs, as well as Richarlison, Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies for Wednesday's game against champions Manchester City.
Solanke is sidelined with a knee injury and last featured against Arsenal on January 15, while Romero (thigh) and Van de Ven (hamstring) both suffered fresh injuries on their return to the side in the 4-3 defeat to Chelsea at the start of December.
Spurs have a week off between City's visit and the first leg of the knockout tie in the Netherlands, with a home game against high-flying Bournemouth ahead of the decider in north London.
Asked when the key trio could be fit, Postecoglou said: "The first European game I’d say outside chance for any three of them but certainly they’ll be back training fully by then and then we’ve got Bournemouth on the weekend and I reckon much better odds for that.
"And definitely, by the second European game they should all be available to play.
"Dom’s the only one where we’ve got to be careful because he’s ahead of schedule so I don’t want push that in case we need to pull the reins in a bit but with Romero and Van de Ven that’s the plan at this stage.
Ange Postecoglou wants to be cautious with Dominic Solanke’s fitness
REUTERS
"We’ve a little window where hopefully we can get something into them and still got two European games and three league games between now and the international break so I really want them up and running by then."
In the absence of Solanke and Richarlison, January signing Mathys Tel, 19, has led the line in the wins over Manchester United and Ipswich.
Postecoglou was asked about the contrast between Tel and more physical centre-forwards like Solanke or Ipswich's Liam Delap, who nearly scored three times within the first six minutes of Spurs' 4-1 win at Portman Road on Saturday.
“I don’t think he’s going to be that kind of striker," Postecoglou said. "But that doesn’t mean he can’t be a really good central striker, there are different types.
“With Mathys, and I’m not on social media but I can just imagine the comments about him, he’s 19 years old, he hadn’t played a lot, we’ve thrown him in and kept him in there because I want to build up his fitness.
“But if anyone is expecting him to come in as a 19-year-old and take the Premier League by storm by scoring multiple goals, it’s not realistic. It just can’t happen.
“What we’re trying to do is work with him. He needs to get his physical fitness up because he hasn’t played a lot of football.
“At 19, I see really outstanding attributes in him that I think he could be a really good No9, he can play wide as well.
“But he’s not going to be a Dom or a Delap, he’s a different type. But looking at him in training, his movements are becoming a bit more fluent, he’s getting used to the way we play. He’s getting used to the level of competition.
“What I do love about him is that he’s a hard-worker. You watch him in games, he’s closing people down, he’s doing the things we need him to do at the moment to help us."
Tel joined Spurs on loan from Bayern Munich on deadline day with an option for the club to make the deal permanent in the summer - which Postecoglou has said they will take up.
“He may not be getting the goals and the accolades, but he’s certainly contributing to the way we want to play," the Australian added.
"That’s the most important thing. He’s got so much growth in him and I’m sure we’ll see that.”