Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham Hotspur will make a late call on the availability of captain Son Heung-min ahead of Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Manchester United.
Son was substituted after 71 minutes during Thursday’s Europa League victory over Qarabag at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after feeling fatigue in his hamstring. He received medical attention on the pitch shortly after Dominic Solanke had scored Tottenham’s third goal, before being replaced by Timo Werner.
“Still early days from last night,” Postecoglou said on Friday. “The boys are fairly tired, the ones who put in a shift.
“Apart from Sonny, everyone’s OK. And Sonny I don’t think’s too bad. He wants to train tomorrow so we’ll see how it goes at training tomorrow and make a decision from there. We have another day up our sleeve to give him every chance.”
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Son last missed a Spurs game through injury in November 2022, when he was sidelined with a fractured eye socket.
The 32-year-old has made seven appearances in all competitions this season, providing two goals and two assists. He was the club’s top scorer last season with 17 goals in all competitions.
Son spoke to the media ahead of Thursday’s Europa League opener and said he and the club were yet to talk about his contract, with his existing deal set to expire in 2025.
On the forward’s contract, Postecoglou added: “I don’t always have the final say but certainly I like to think my input is significant on it. Look, I think it is part of a broader discussion around Sonny but the way he is performing and leading the club at the moment, I certainly want him to stick around for a while.”
When asked if Son’s workload needs to be managed going forward, Postecoglou said: “No. I would have wanted to ease his workload in this early part of the year but we lost Wilson (Odobert), Richy (Richarlison), and Dominic (Solanke). Invariably in football sometimes it is not the amount of injuries but the kind of injuries.
“He has played more than I certainly want him to. The idea of signing Dom and bringing in Wilson, extending Timo’s loan was so that we can manage his load, because he has international football as well, a little bit better. It’s something I am mindful of, it is just the circumstances so far. Sonny always wants to play. That is his attitude But we have to be sensible.
“I don’t think it has too much to do with his age because I haven’t seen that affect him. It’s more I don’t think that the workload in the modern game is sustainable. We have spoken a lot about fixture overload and I think I said last week that part of that responsibility lies with us to protect our players, while the calendar is like this, and certainly with Sonny we are going to have to be mindful of that.”
Spurs were 3-0 winners over Qarabag on Thursday despite Radu Dragusin’s early red card.
Postecoglou’s side are 10th in the Premier League after taking seven points from their opening five matches. United, meanwhile, are 11th with the same record as the north London side. They were also in Europa League action this week, drawing 1-1 at home with FC Twente.
(Warren Little/Getty Images)