Tottenham could be handed an overdue injury boost in time for their Premier League clash with Manchester United this weekend.
Ange Postecoglou passionately defended his side after the FA Cup defeat against Aston Villa last Sunday having been left to manage a staggering injury crisis over the last 10 weeks.
11 players were still missing last weekend but there is hope Destiny Udogie, James Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario will be back in training this week and could be in contention to return for the visit of Ruben Amorim’s side.
Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner and Wilson Odobert are also close to rejoining the group while Dominic Solanke is not thought to be far behind. The former Bournemouth striker picked up a knee injury in mid-January.
Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero have both endured injury-hit seasons with Poestecoglou set to provide an update on the pair and the rest of his squad on Friday.
Van de Ven made his return from a hamstring problem last month, playing 45 minutes in the Europa League victory over Elfsborg but has not featured in the squad since.
Romero meanwhile has not featured since his brief comeback against Chelsea in December with Spurs exercising extreme caution over the pair. Radu Dragusin meanwhile is out for the season with a serious knee injury.
Mathys Tel scored his first goal for the club against Villa on Sunday. United were interested in signing the forward in January before talks with Bayern Munich collapsed. He can show them exactly what they might be missing up top on Sunday.
United’s injury woes have cleared up in recent weeks but their problems remain, just about scraping through to the FA Cup fifth round against Leicester last Friday.
Patrick Dorgu made his debut that evening, playing 45 minutes on the right. Rasmus Hojlund endured another woeful evening up top but Joshua Zirkzee strengthened his case after coming off the bench, scoring his side’s equaliser.
Alejandro Garnacho also emerged off the bench that evening, lifting his side with an impressive second-half performance that will surely earn him a starting spot in north London.
Kobbie Mainoo’s under-par season continued last week with Manuel Ugarte and Bruno Fernandes looking like Amorim’s first choice midfield pairing.
United and Spurs are marooned in 13th and 14th respectively with two points separating the two ahead of kick-off.
Kinsky, Porro, Danso, Gray, Spence, Bergvall, Bentancur, Moore, Kulusevski, Song, Tel
Onana, de Ligt, Maguire, Yoro, Dalot, Fernandes, Ugarte, Dorgu, Diallo, Garnacho, Zirkzee
Tottenham vs Man Utd kicks off at 4:30pm on Sunday 16 February.
Live coverage is available on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event with a live stream available on the Sky Go app and NOW TV.
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