Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou is “hopeful” that Dominic Solanke will be available for Sunday’s Premier League clash against Bournemouth and had plenty more positive injury news to deliver ahead of a decisive week for the club.
Solanke limped off in the closing stages of Tottenham’s limp 1-0 loss to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday night. The club’s marquee summer arrival was making his first appearance in seven weeks after nursing a knee injury, yet lasted just 18 minutes before colliding with the Dutch goalkeeper Rome Jayden Owusu-Oduro.
Postecoglou warned that it was “too early to tell” the extent of the damage sustained by his striker, but struck a positive tone when he added: “It is a knock so hopefully it will settle down pretty quickly.”
The Australian coach was uncharacteristically brimming with encouraging fitness news during his press conference ahead of Bournemouth’s visit on Sunday. “There is a chance” that defender Ben Davies plays some role in the league encounter after returning to training in recent weeks, the often gruff head coach beamed.
Even more crucially, the first-choice centre-back duo of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven will “both be in line to feature” this weekend. The pairing is instrumental to the style of football Postecoglou strives for at Spurs, offering a unique blend of tactical awareness, aggression and raw pace which ensures that the team can play with a high defensive line.
Romero and Van de Ven have started and finished just 30 of Tottenham’s 65 Premier League games since the start of last season. Yet, with his first-choice partnership at the back, Postecoglou’s side concede an average of 1.4 goals compared to 1.7 and collect 1.8 points as opposed to 1.3 without the partnership in tact.
However, it hasn’t been all sunshine and light for Spurs on the injury front of late. Dejan Kulusevski picked up a foot problem earlier this week which ensures that it is “unlikely” he will feature again before April.
Tottenham not only face an upwardly mobile Bournemouth on Sunday but have a potentially season-defining Europa League tie against AZ next Thursday. If Spurs are unable to overturn the single-goal deficit when the Dutch side arrive in north London, Postecoglou will surely fail to fulfil his prediction of winning a trophy this season.
