Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou will turn to Brandon Austin against Newcastle United with first and second-choice goalkeepers Guglielmo Vicario and Fraser Forster unavailable.
Postecoglou has to deal with several injuries to key players, such as centre-back pairing Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, ahead of the Premier League match against Newcastle on Saturday.
The club’s injury crisis has been worsened by a reported sickness bug, with back-up goalkeeper Forster one of many to fall ill this week.
Richarlison, Mikey Moore, Ben Davies, Van de Ven and Romero are all yet to recover from their injuries and Postecoglou has confirmed Destiny Udogie is out for six weeks, while there are several other players reportedly unwell.
First-choice goalkeeper Vicario is out until March after undergoing ankle surgery and with Forster also unwell, it looks like Postecoglou will have to turn to Austin.
Austin, 25, joined Spurs in 2007 after spells with Watford and Chelsea but is yet to make his first-team debut for the north Londoners.
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He spent the second half of 2019/20 on loan at Danish outfit Viborg FF and played for Orlando City in MLS between January and June 2021.
Austin has been on the bench 15 times this season and could make his ‘long-awaited debut’ against Newcastle on Saturday, according to talkSPORT.
The report confirms that Forster has a ‘sickness bug’ along with several Spurs team-mates, which means the 25-year-old is set to be drafted in for the Premier League clash.
This is a superb opportunity for Austin to prove himself to Postecoglou, with Forster failing to impress in Vicario’s absence.
Should he show ability with the ball at his feet against Newcastle’s high press and not make any catastrophic goalkeeping errors, there will be no reason for the Australian to bring Forster back in.
Spurs go into Saturday’s fixture in horrid form, winning only one of their last seven league matches, leaving them 11th in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, Newcastle are absolutely flying and on the back of a comfortable 2-0 victory away to Manchester United.
With so many Spurs players unavailable, it could be an absolute bloodbath, with Eddie Howe’s side in a strong position for a statement win.