Ange Postecoglou reckons his Spurs side are in the midst of the worst injury crisis he’s ever faced as a manager ahead of the Europa League trip to play Rangers.
The Australian manager, 59, is returning to Glasgow 18 months on from leaving Celtic for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Postecoglou is expecting a hot reception from Rangers fans.
But there are doubts surrounding as many as eight Spurs players ahead of the match as Tottenham face something of a crisis at centre-back in particular.
Ahead of the Rangers game, Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that Spurs are still without several key players, including a £43m Netherlands international.
Ange Postecoglou confirms Dutchman is out v Rangers
”Not much better, to be fair,” said Postecoglou when asked how his squad was looking ahead of the Europa League clash, as quoted by Spurs’ official website.
“Obviously, with the weekend’s fall-out, (Cristian) Romero and (Micky) van de Ven, we’re still getting some clarity around their prognosis, but both have picked up injuries that will keep them out again.
“That’s disappointing for us because we’re thin on numbers, but we’ve had to deal with that for quite a while now.
“Everyone else from the weekend got through okay. (Rodrigo) Bentancur is obviously available so at least we get him back.
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“It’s challenging. We’ve also got Ben Davies out who played a big part while the other two have been out.
”It’s no secret we’re thin on numbers both squad wise and position wise.
“But it is what is, we can’t change that, we’ve got some big games coming up starting tomorrow.
“We’ll have to deal with what we’ve got. I’m still confident we’ll be able to get the job done with players at our disposal.”
Spurs boss pledges to get to bottom of injury crisis
The news surrounding Micky van de Ven in particular could not have come at a worse time for Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham Hotspur.
Influential Argentine World Cup winner Cristian Romero has just been ruled out for six weeks after being subbed off early in the 4-3 defeat to Chelsea.
Micky van de Ven was also subbed off ten minutes early in the Premier League defeat and there were hopes the centre-back would be fit to face Rangers.
That’s despite the 23-year-old only just returning from a lengthy hamstring injury lay-off in the clash with the Blues.
It comes after Spurs reportedly paid VfL Wolfsburg €50m (£43m) to sign Van de Ven, the Dutch international defender joining the club in the summer.
Ange Postecoglou has reflected on the scale of the club’s medical issues and insists the North London club are doing all they can to look into the problems.
“It’s the same side (for Micky van de Ven’s injury),” said Postecoglou.
“Whether it’s the same one, we’ve just got to get clarity on whether it’s exactly the same spot or a new spot.
“By a fair stretch (it’s the worst injury crisis I’ve ever experienced).
“I never think it’s just bad luck. Some of it. I’ve never lost a goalkeeper for this period of time.
“Some of it is recurring, particularly this year in terms of guys coming back and re-injuring. It’s something we’re looking at.
“We’re always trying to explore whether we can do things better. Last year was different to this year. Last year it hit us across the board.
“This year it’s more guys that are coming back who are affected.
“Knock on wood, we’ve got a core group who are playing a lot and are getting through it ok. But it is something we are trying to address.”