min substitution defended by Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou in comeback win over Aston Villa

Son Heung-min was "never going to play more than 55 minutes" for Tottenham Hotspur against Aston Villa on Sunday, Ange Postecoglou said as he defended his decision to substitute the forward.

Son, returning from a three-match absence through injury, was a livewire at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and assisted Brennan Johnson for his side's equaliser four minutes after half-time, cancelling out Morgan Rogers' early opener.

But the Spurs captain was taken off seven minutes later, which seemed to leave him bemused - pointing to himself with a confused expression - as he watched his side run home a further three goals to earn an eventually comfortable 4-1 victory against Villa.

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Postecoglou said Son was always going to have limited game-time in the Premier League match, after his rushed return from a previous injury caused a further absence.

"He was never going to play more than 55 minutes," the Spurs boss told BBC Sport. "Last time he came back from injury he got to the 60-minute mark and got injured again. He got through unscathed."

The victory closed Spurs' gap to sixth-place Villa to two points, and helped Postecoglou's side build on their Carabao Cup victory over Manchester City on Wednesday, which followed a disappointing 1-0 defeat to strugglers Crystal Palace last weekend.

The Spurs boss said his side did not "feel sorry" for themselves in the wake of the disappointing result at Selhurst Park.

"Seven days is a long time in football," he added. "Seven days ago I was a grumpy old so and so. We have to say true to the course we're on.

"We made sure not to feel sorry for ourselves and back to the team we want to be."

Spurs will look to continue their perfect UEFA Europa League record at Galatasaray on Thursday, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

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POSTECOGLOU HAILS 'UNBELIEVABLE' SOLANKE

Postecoglou was full of praise for the "unbelievable" efforts of Dominic Solanke, who emerged with two goals in Spurs' win over Villa.

The former Bournemouth striker capped off a fine team move to give his side a 2-1 lead with a dinked finish on 75 minutes, before turning home Richarlison's low cross to give his side a two-goal cushion four minutes later.

The brace took Solanke's goal tally to five for the season across all competitions, and Postecoglou said he "can't speak highly enough" of the forward.

"The goals are great and as a striker I'm sure he loves the fact he's got a couple, but I can't speak highly enough about him and what he brings to this team."

The Spurs striker has yet to hit his goalscoring heights at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and last found the back of the net in his side's 3-0 victory over Manchester United in September.

Solanke told Sky Sports he was delighted to be back on the scoresheet: "It's been a few games without [a goal]. I've been trying to get one and I got two. Buzzing with it. Nice dink finish, I enjoyed that.

"When we are playing well we can score many goals and we showed that today. We've had some great games but haven't managed to do it the whole season but we think we're capable of it."

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