Ange Postecoglou could be without a single senior centre-back for Tottenham Hotspur’s PREMIER League clash with a reinvigorated Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, adding to the pressure mounting on the Australian manager.
Spurs were consigned to a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground on Boxing Day following on from a 6-3 battering at the hands of Liverpool in front of their own fans. The first-choice defensive duo of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven both limped off during another calamitous 4-3 loss to Chelsea earlier this month, leaving Postecoglou desperately short of defensive options.
Radu Dragusin had been lining up alongside 18-year-old midfielder Archie Gray but limped off in the closing stages of Thursday’s defeat to Forest with an ankle injury. The Spurs boss warned that is was “a bit early to tell” whether the 22-year-old Romanian would be fit for the visit of Wolves, but Ben Davies has been ruled out for “another couple of weeks”.
Right-back Djed Spence removed one of the few remaining defensive alternatives for Postecoglou by picking up a second yellow card in the 94th minute at the City Ground.
“We’re in a tough spot,” Postecoglou admitted when adressing the media on Friday, “we have been for a while. We’ve been getting through it for quite a while now and keeping our fingers crossed that we don’t get more issues. It’s another test for us, but whatever we need to deal with, we’ll deal with and get ready for Sunday.”
The former Celtic boss has come under fire for deploying an adventurous high defensive line even though the profile of available centre-backs may not suit that approach. The defiant head coach has repeatedly insisted that he will not compromise on his principles, but did concede that the team would benefit from some defensive additions in January.
“It’s not just about bringing anybody in,” Postecoglou warned, “but there’s certainly a need for us to reinforce if we can.”
As Spurs languish in the bottom half of the PREMIER League table, Postecoglou remained defiant. “I’ll keep doing what I think is the right thing to get success for this club,” he stressed. “That doesn’t change. The task is difficult because of our situation but, like most things that are fairly difficult to traverse, it’s only temporary, we’ll get through it and we’ll come out stronger.”
