Ange Postecoglou says Wilson Odobert can help Spurs ‘finish the season strong’ | OneFootball

Ange Postecoglou has backed Tottenham’s forgotten man Wilson Odobert to make his mark during the final three months of the season.

Odobert has endured an injury-hit debut campaign at Spurs since an August switch from Burnley, with an initial hamstring issue followed by surgery on the same muscle in November.

The France Under-21 international returned earlier this month from a lengthy lay-off and caught the eye with a number of fine runs during only his fourth start for the club in a 1-0 home loss to Manchester City on Wednesday.

Next up for Tottenham is a Europa League last-16 first leg away to AZ Alkmaar on Thursday week and Postecoglou is excited about what is to come from the 20-year-old winger.

“I thought he was great,” Postecoglou reflected.

“Again, it’s one thing to get guys back from injury but we have got to get them up to speed as quick as we possibly can.

“You could see Wilson hasn’t played for a while but you could also see the quality that he has. I think he grew into the game in the second half.

“I thought he was a big catalyst at the beginning of the second half when he was running at the opposition.

“He is an exciting player and if we can manage him through this period and get him to a really decent level of fitness, I’m sure he will help us finish the season strong.”

Odobert did squander two of Spurs’ best chances in the second half, with captain Son Heung-min and Pape Sarr also culpable as they suffered a narrow defeat.

Erling Haaland’s 12th-minute effort separated the teams and on a night where Bayern Munich loanee Mathys Tel struggled, with Postecoglou acknowledging the anticipated return of 11-goal Dominic Solanke following a knee injury will be welcome.

Postecoglou added: “Mathys is working really hard but we’re asking him to do a massive job for us at this level and he’s probably one that did probably need a rest and probably does need a rest because he’s come in and played every game.

“It’ll be good to get Dom back in there. When he was playing for us, he was hard to stop and you can see the benefit of them having Erling in their side, so hopefully Dom’s not too far away.”

Man City claimed a semblance of revenge on Tottenham after two defeats in quick succession at the start of a difficult winter period, but Pep Guardiola was effusive in praise for Postecoglou’s side.

“The pace of this team? Pfft, it is difficult. Maybe Liverpool (better), but they are unbelievable,” Guardiola insisted.

“Lucas Bergvall, every time he has the ball and run unstoppable, Djed Spence and Pedro Porro, (Destiny) Udogie, (Dejan) Kulusevski, Son, an incredible physical team with a clear idea to play.

“They play really good and play without (Cristian) Romero and (Micky) van de Ven. Two of maybe the best central defenders in the league.

“We were better first than second (half) and the second was better for Spurs.”