Ange Postecoglou remains optimistic that Tottenham Hotspur can spoil Liverpool's Premier League title celebrations this Sunday, even as they gear up for their upcoming Europa League semi-final.
Spurs are set to face Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of the semi-finals next Thursday, just four days after their Anfield fixture. Liverpool is poised to clinch the title with a win against Tottenham, the result only pending on Arsenal's earlier encounter with Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Should the Gunners lose, Liverpool will be confirmed as champion. A draw means Arne Slot's squad would require just one more point to secure a historic 20th league triumph, which could be earned against Spurs.
Tottenham rotated its team during a 2-1 home loss to Nottingham Forest on Monday evening, even substituting center-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven at half-time despite trailing by two goals. Nevertheless, Postecoglou has stated his focus is on managing the well-being of his team, hinting there were no significant concerns before their match against Liverpool.
"It's a bit of a balancing act and we have to be smart about what we do," the Tottenham manager said. "We have to be ready for Thursday in a week, with our players healthy.
"Good test against Liverpool obviously. If we play like we did (against Forest) but keep our concentration level where we should be then we can give them a game."
Discussing the decision to substitute Romero and Van de Ven during Monday's match, Postecoglou explained: "That was pre-planned. I thought they needed to play some minutes tonight because it becomes 10 days leading into Liverpool.
"With both of them we've got them in a really good place physically now and I just want to keep them ticking over. I felt that there was no need to play more than 45 minutes and we needed to get a couple of others game time."
James Maddison, who picked up an injury in Tottenham's quarter-final second leg victory at Eintracht Frankfurt last week, did not feature against Forest, while full-back Destiny Udogie was also absent. However, both are expected to be ready for the clash with Liverpool at the weekend.
"They're OK," Postecoglou clarified, suggesting that resting Udogie was always part of his plan. "Destiny was fine," he added. "He put in a big physical shift on Thursday and the idea was always to rest him.
"I wasn't going to put him on so there was no point in putting him on the bench. Madders was pretty sore but in the last 24 hours he recovered and was keen to be on the bench. They're both fine."