Ange Postecoglou has just three players currently on the Tottenham injury list ahead of the North London Derby but they are all important parts of his squad.
Spurs welcome Arsenal next Sunday afternoon in the first North London Derby of the season with Postecoglou’s side looking to turn good performances this campaign so far into better results than the win, draw and loss they have recorded in their opening three Premier League games.
To beat Mikel Arteta’s Gunners and kickstart Tottenham’s campaign, Postecoglou will need as many of his key players fit and available as possible and he will be hoping that everyone returns from the international break in a good condition.
Here’s what we know about Spurs’ current injured players and their potential return dates.
Dominic Solanke
Postecoglou made it clear that Dominic Solanke was close to being able to play against Newcastle last weekend after a collision against Leicester a fortnight before meant his ankle swelled up in the days after and he subsequently missed the Everton win.
“Dom Solanke is close but we’ll err on the side of caution, he won’t play on the weekend with the international week, we’ve made a decision to wait until after that,” he said last Friday before the trip to St James’ Park.
The week before he was asked whether the new £65million signing could potentially miss the North London Derby as well and the Australian quickly shook his head.
“No, look it’s not serious enough to keep him out for five weeks, no, so look he’s still got a chance for the Newcastle game. That’s the extent of it, it’s just about how quickly he recovers,” he said.
“Every story is written differently. They’re not all fairy tales where you come and make your debut and score a hat-trick. He was very good for us at Leicester and we’re disappointed because it was really exciting to see that he is going to fit in really well with what we’re doing.
“I’ve no doubt about that. It’s just a small hiccup. He misses a game or two, it’s game one of 50-plus games. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to recover from that. For me the exciting bit was just watching him in the team last week. I can just tell he’s going to be a really good fit.”
Potential return match: Tottenham vs Arsenal – September 15
Micky van de Ven
As with Solanke, Postecoglou made it clear that Micky van de Ven was close to being available to face Newcastle but wasn’t quite there.
“Micky was close in training this week but with the international break he’s not quite 100%,” he said last Saturday. “It’s nothing serious. We’ve got a heaped programme straight after the international break so we’re going to need all our back four.”
Van de Ven hyperextended his knee during the match against Everton but played on until the end of the game, setting up Son Heung-min for the fourth goal with a pitch-long run. Postecoglou’s words about the young Dutch international, who withdrew from international duty, suggested the wait hopefully will not be too before we see him in action again.
Potential return match: Tottenham vs Arsenal – September 15
Richarlison
Richarlison had only just returned from a long-term calf injury when he suffered another problem in training last week that ruled him out of the Newcastle match.
“Richy pulled up sore, I think there’s a muscle injury there, we’re just getting more information but he’ll be out as well,” said Postecoglou.
When football.london asked how frustrating it was for the player and his manager to have constant injuries that interrupt his rhythm, the Spurs boss added: “Yeah, that’s it and that’s a challenge, I guess. It’s something we’ve got to look at again. He’s been in that cycle for quite a while and predating me, I guess. We’ve put a lot of thought [into it], we took a really sort of conservative approach with him. He didn’t play in any of the preseason games, and he’s really only played 20 minutes of first team football.
“But again, obviously he’s had a setback. So it’s something we just got to go back with Richy and work through the steps now of getting him back up and running, because you know, when he’s fit, he’s such a handful. Even last week that 20 minutes he played, you can see the options he gives us in that position. But like you said, it’s frustrating probably for him as much as anyone else but frustrating for us, too.
“But that’s the reason we brought Dom in, but obviously he picked up an injury in the first couple of games, but again it’s something we’ll work with Richy on.”
It was when speaking about young striker Will Lankshear, also currently out with a hamstring injury but set to return soon, that Postecoglou appeared to admit that Richarlison could be out for a longer period.
“If Richy is out for an extended period of time, then Will will definitely be a part of it. Will and Mikey [Moore] have done really well in pre-season and we feel they’ll benefit from being around the first-team,” he said.
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