Tottenham handed major triple injury boost as Ange Postecoglou reveals Europa League plan | OneFootball

Ange Postecoglou reveals plan as Solanke, Van de Ven and Romero near comebacks

Major boost for Tottenham ahead of their Europa League clash

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Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Dominic Solanke are set to return to the Tottenham squad for Thursday's Europa League tie against AZ Alkmaar, with Ange Postecoglou saying he will decide after Wednesday's training if any of the trio are ready to start the game.

In a major boost to Postecoglou and the club, they are all back in the squad for the last-16 first leg in the Netherlands.

Asked if they are ready to start against AZ, Postecoglou said: "We’ll see, we'll train today.

"Obviously they've all been out for a significant amount of time so we'll see when we reintroduce them but they're all here and training today, so we'll make decisions after that."

Van de Ven first pulled up with a hamstring injury in late October and has twice returned to action -- against Chelsea in early December and in January's Europa League game against Elfsborg -- only to immediately return to the sidelines.

"We’re mindful that the last time, whilst he came back and played half a game, we still felt and he still felt like he just didn’t feel right," Postecoglou said of the Dutchman.

"So we’ve taken a different sort of road with him this time. He feels really good. He’s been training with us for a good week and a half and is in a good space. I guess it’s just about a timing thing now and how we reintroduce him.

"We’ll probably be gauged by how he feels in terms of what he does actually getting out there and having a runabout.

"But in terms of training and how he looks at training and how he feels, he feels very, very confident that once he’s back in the team he’ll be all good."

Fit again: Micky van de Ven

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Romero has also not featured since the 4-3 defeat to Chelsea, suffering a thigh injury on his return to action, having been sidelined beforehand with foot and hamstring complaints.

The Argentine has been called up by his country for the World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil at the end of the month, with Postecoglou insisting he has no control over the situation.

"It’s interesting, I've been in the game for 26 years, including as a national coach and one rule we know is don’t have any control over international football," Postecoglou said, when asked his view on Romero's call-up.

"Everyone knows that, I don't know why it becomes a question every time. Even if he's injured, they can call him up. So from our perspective, it's not of our concern. Our concern is to get him up and running and hopefully get him some game time.

"If he's fit should go and get more game time rather than not playing for two weeks. The international side of it, people have asked me a couple of times over the last couple of days and it's almost like they're not really sure. International football is pretty, clubs don't have any control on where they're players go.

"I express [my view], it doesn’t change anything," he added. "And at the end of the day, if he’s fit, then him getting some games is good for us because he’s missed a lot of football.

"We can’t dictate to players whether they should go with their national teams or not.

"I never have and that’s been my view my whole career and I won’t stop now."

And at the end of the day, if he’s fit, then him getting some games is good for us because he’s missed a lot of football

Ange Postecoglou

Postecoglou also insisted he had no issue with Yves Bissouma travelling to a ski resort in the French Alps after the squad were given two days between last week's 1-0 defeat to Manchester City and the trip to Alkmaar.

"I don’t worry about those things, mate," he said. "They’re adults, they’re human beings, they had a couple of days off, they can choose to use that time as wisely as they can to help them be ready for what’s in store for us.

"You kind of hope that they’re sensible about these things and go about whatever they do in a manner that befits the position they hold. But I have no concerns and he’s fine."