Ange Postecoglou has been dealt a further blow to his side's horrific injury crisis, with several players suffering from a bout of illness ahead of the visit of Newcastle United to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Speaking to the press on Friday morning, the Australian confirmed that there was ''an illness bug running through the squad as well, so a few missing training," when asked if the six-day break between the draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers and the visit of The Magpies had helped anyone in their recovery from injury - the answer to that, also no.
Last weekend, the misery continued to pile on Spurs as they lost Destiny Udogie to a hamstring injury, which is expected to keep the Italian out for around six weeks, whilst midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur picked up his fifth yellow card of the season, just one game before the threshold was increased to ten, meaning he will serve a suspension.
Those two new unavailabilities are coupled with the fact that no players are ready to return yet either, so The Lilywhites will remain without the likes of Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Ben Davies all still out, and the trio of defenders will now not be in action until the end of the month.
Postecoglou: "Yeah, at this stage, Richy and Mikey will be the next two off the rank, hopefully next week at some point and then Ben, Micky van de Van and Romero all kind of around the same time, so that back end of January, they're all sort of slated to return."
The injury list now stands at a staggering eight, and although Spurs' Head Coach was 'not yet sure' whether the illness would cause more absences, there is heavy speculation that Fraser Forster, Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin and James Maddison will be missing.
That would pave the way for Brandon Austin, who has been at the club since the age of eight, to make his senior Tottenham debut four days before his 26th birthday. It could also see Alfie Dorrington, who made his debut from the bench against Southampton last month, start his first game.
Tough test awaits
The former Celtic Manager was quizzed on Saturday's opponents, who have had very mixed fortunes compared to Spurs' of late.
"Yeah, I think, yeah, the context of all that, obviously, and I think everyone knows what the context is, but it is what it is and you know, Newcastle will be a good test.
“Good side, we always have good games against them and I think they're always close, you know, both teams in all the games we've had against them had their moments and uh yeah, yeah, they are in good form at the moment, they’re in a good period and also a good chance for us, but at the same time we obviously haven't had the results we want, but we’re still capable, we’ve got quality and we’ve done enough in games to win them so we’re going to go out there with the same mindset."
Eddie Howe's side are on a four-match winning run, which has seen them keep a clean sheet in each victory, scoring 13 in the process. Alexander Isak is also in a rich vein of form currently, having scored eleven goals in the last eleven league fixtures - the Swede is currently in the midst of a six-game scoring streak.
There's no denying he loves a game against Spurs either, having scored five in four appearances against The Lilywhites.
Looking back on 2024
Whilst the focus will be on the opening game of the new year, Postecoglou was also asked for his thoughts on the past 12 months, and journalists wanted to know whether or not he was pleased to see the back of the 'bad stuff.'
"No, because then you dismiss all the good stuff. You know 2024, which I know right now people don’t recognise as anything but we finished fifth last year. We finished eighth the year before and people keep forgetting that. I didn’t pick up a club that finished third or fifth.
“Even though the back end of last year was a struggle for us, I thought it was still a real positive season on the back of what we had to do in terms of player turnover because we lost some significant players. I enjoyed 2024, it was a big challenge for us and yes it didn’t finish well, but that’s the case for every year; all of us have challenges within it. I guess going into 2025 now it is about making this year better than the last, but that should be the aim every year."
Although fans may not be pleased with how the year ended, Postecoglou has overseen a vast improvement and his side are also still fighting across all four competitions heading into 2025.
Tuchel in the stands
England Manager Thomas Tuchel will conduct his first scouting mission in N17 on Saturday. The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich tactician, who is known to have taken a likeness to Spurs, might want to keep a close eye on Dominic Solanke.
Since joining from Bournemouth for £65m in the summer, he has scored ten in 25 appearances across all competitions, however, the underwhelming stats are no reflection of his performances on the whole, whilst it's also worth remembering Postecoglou's side have been nowhere near their best.
His Head Coach raved about him in his pre-match press conference.
"Dom has been outstanding for us. He has scored goals but it is just his all-round game and his capacity to help the team in all aspects of our football. Defensively, link-up play, still being a presence in the box. Really intelligent with his movement and really carrying that position on his back with no help, no rest.
“So I think it says an enormous amount about his character and the person he is. I can’t speak highly enough of him. The load he has had to carry for us over the last two months without a lot of help and from us being able to allow him to recover and still every week he puts in a massive performance. I have no doubt, I’m sure Thomas has been following him, that he will be impressed."
When asked if the attendance of The Three Lions' Manager would make a difference to get something extra out of his English players, Postecoglou provided a humourous response.
"Maybe Thomas just wants to see a good game, he has said good things about us. So hopefully we put on a show. I don’t think that really factors into players' motivations. I’m pretty sure even if Thomas wasn’t there and the players played well he would find out about it. Like I said, hopefully he gets a nice seat and enjoys the spectacle."