Football.London

As many as 18 players could miss Tottenham Hotspur’s visit to Manchester City on Saturday evening with both clubs contending with injury doubts ahead of the clash.

The pressure is on Man City to halt their four-game losing streak, which began with the 2-1 League Cup defeat to Spurs in October. Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglou will be keen to avoid a third straight defeat, having succumbed to Galatasaray and Ipswich Town before the international break.

He will be without his two primary centre-backs for the trip to the Etihad Stadium, with Cristian Romero ruled out of the encounter after withdrawing from the Argentina squad early.

Micky Van de Ven is not expected back from his hamstring issue, picked up against Man City in the League Cup, until mid-December. There is ambiguity over the fitness of Timo Werner, who missed the defeat to Ipswich with a knock.

Rodrigo Bentancur will definitely miss the contest, with the Uruguayan still barred from action as Spurs appeal the length of the seven-match ban imposed for using a racial slur against Son Heung-min.

Mikey Moore’s availability will only be known a few hours before kick-off after the 17-year-old was left laid up by a virus before the break. Richarlisonis not due back until early 2025 while Wilson Odobert is due to be out for longer after undergoing hamstring surgery.

As for Man City, the picture is slightly more hazy. Mateo Kovacic is certainly unavailable having picked up an injury while on Croatia duty, as is Ruben Dias following his muscle setback.

Rodri is out for the season while Oscar Bobb is not due back from his fractured leg until December - but Pep Guardiola’s seven other concerns are all doubts, with it unclear whether they will feature on Saturday.

John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake all returned to training this week but Guardiola cast doubt over their match readiness and whether any could last a full 90 minutes. It seems like at least some of the trio will make the squad, albeit this is not confirmed.

Jack Grealish and Phil Foden withdrew from England duty due to injuries, with it uncertain how far along they are in their respective recoveries.

Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Harry Kane has become the quickest player to score a half-century in the Bundesliga after his hat-trick for Bayern Munich on Friday night.

The 31-year-old, who swapped North London for Bavaria in an £86m deal last summer, notched his fourth hat-trick of the season by firing three second-half goals against Augsburg to extend Vincent Kompany's side's lead at the top of the table to eight points.

The England international beat Nediljko Labrovic from the penalty spot twice before sealing his hat-trick with a header from close range after a sublime touch to control Leon Goretzka's cross.

Kane scored 36 Bundesliga goals for Bayern Munich last term; however, that wasn't enough for Thomas Tuchel's side to claim a 12th league title in a row as Bayer Leverkusen, mastermind by Xabi Alonso, pipped the Allianz Arena outfit to the title.

But Kane's 14 league goals this term have Bayern standing firm in the Bundesliga and eight points clear of the nearest challengers, RB Leipzig.

It means Kane surpassed the 50-goal mark in 43 games. By comparison, it took Manchester City's Erling Haaland 50 games to achieve the same feat back in 2021.

Asked about Kane's performance after the game, Kompany said: “It was somehow typical Harry Kane. It was close in the first half, close, close, close, and then it happens, I think three goals in 15 minutes.

"Of course, he can do that. But for such a player, I have to say, he had a lot of chances that he could maybe make more of. Then, in an instant, everything is perfect and he can score many goals.”

Ange Postecoglou has found his options severely limited in certain areas as he takes his Tottenham side to face the current Premier League champions Manchester City on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola has a number of his key players back fit and ready to face Spurs, but Postecoglou has lost yet another one of his big names with vice-captain Cristian Romero unavailable with a persistent toe injury. The Argentine has also become a father for the second time this week, with the arrival of his daughter Lucy, and his head coach told him to take some time off to tend to his new-born child and deal with a couple of injuries that have dogged him for the past three weeks.

Romero joins a Tottenham absence list that includes the banned Rodrigo Bentancur, the hamstrung Micky van de Ven, Richarlison and Wilson Odobert and the virus-hit Mikey Moore.

City do have some problems in central midfield with Mateo Kovacic ruled out for a month, adding to a lack of options in the defensive midfield role with Rodri out for the season.

The two sides met last month in the Carabao Cup with much-changed sides with Tottenham coming out on top on that occasion.

Here's the team that we reckon Postecoglou could select to face Guardiola's men this time at the Etihad Stadium.

Injuries are once again proving problematic for Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham as we approach the end of the year. Rewind the clock back to November 2023 and Tottenham were delivered a hammer blow with Micky van de Ven and James Maddison facing lengthy spells on the sidelines.

Suspensions to key players Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie and Yves Bissouma also didn't help matters for Postecoglou and his team. Twelve months on, Spurs find themselves in a similar boat with the head coach having limited options in certain areas of the pitch right now.

Van de Ven is not expected to return from a hamstring injury until the middle of December, Romero is also unavailable for Saturday's game against Man City and both Richarlison and Wilson Odobert face extended spells in the treatment room. The Lilywhites will now have to do without Rodrigo Bentancur for seven domestic games due to a ban from the FA.

It's exactly what Postecoglou does not need as he bids to address the team's mixed start to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign. Spurs do have alternative options in the squad to select from but it's fair to say that their substitutes' bench has a rather youthful look about it at present.

Tottenham were active in the summer transfer market as Postecoglou's squad was given a much-needed refresh. Dominic Solanke has made a difference up front but Spurs' other incomings have yet to make a real impression due to a lack of Premier League action coming their way.

Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall have so far had to settle for regular minutes in cup competitions as pitch time in the league has been extremely hard to come by. At a time when Tottenham need some experience in their team to replace the missing players, many have pointed to the club's transfer strategy of targeting players for the years ahead.

While of course Spurs could reap the rewards in the years to come as they have some very talented players on their hands, their lack of experience in the club's hour of need has perhaps given Tottenham a transfer lesson. It could in turn possibly have an impact on Postecoglou and Johan Lange's plans for the January transfer window.

The above was all discussed on the latest episode of the Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham podcast. football.london's Spurs reporters Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest also reflected on Bentancur's seven-match ban and Tottenham remastering their brand identity, as well as also previewing Saturday's Premier League encounter away at Manchester City.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking here or watch on YouTube right here. Alternatively, you can watch the podcast below.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Ange Postecoglou has admitted that Cristian Romero has not been fully fit for "two or three weeks" and that he told him it's an important time for the centre-back to take a pause even if Tottenham are travelling to face Manchester City on Saturday.

Romero picked up a toe injury during a challenge on Morgan Rogers in Spurs' big win against Aston Villa earlier this month and after he returned to face Ipswich, he travelled to play for Argentina in their World Cup qualifying match in Paraguay and had to come off at half-time of the defeat with the problem.

A couple of days later, Romero became a father for the second time after his partner gave birth to a baby girl called Lucy and the 26-year-old has been recovering while dealing with the new addition to his household.

"To be fair, with us, he hasn’t been fully fit for probably two or three weeks. He’s soldiered on through it because that is the kind of character he is, and we needed him but I think when he went away, he realised, this is not healing the way we want it to," said Postecoglou.

"It’s a couple of separate issues, and I spoke to him and said 'Look. Just have a break. We need you 100% fit'. As much as we’d love to have him out there, I think it’s best for him he gets totally over everything. He had the birth of his daughter this week as well which is also a significant event in his life. These kind of things, I think it’s important for him to pause a little bit and just spend some time with his family. I think it’s the right thing for him to do."

On the Argentine's injuries, he explained further: "One was obviously the knock on his toe which has been a bit troublesome and prior to that he had a bit of a tight hamstring. It wasn't a hamstring injury but he was tight. So we're being careful with him. He’s kind of over both now, but we’ll just wait. Rather than throw him back in this weekend, like I said, he’d had the birth of his daughter as well, it just felt like we’ll take this time to get him 100 per cent."

Some Tottenham fans questioned why Romero was allowed to go on international duty to South America if he had been carrying a few knocks. Did Postecoglou have a moment where he would have preferred him to remain with the club?

"Yeah you do, but there’s always a line there, especially with someone like Romero where you've got to trust his judgement as well," said the former Australian boss. "He understands the responsibility he has. Look, he didn’t make it any worse.

"He just didn’t feel like he could perform at the level he wanted so that’s the reason he came off at half-time. If anything, when he came back, it's actually improved. So it hasn't made the situation worse for him. I just think he needs to get his body right so he can be at his best."

At this time last season Spurs were going through an injury crisis and this time around they have three players out with hamstring injuries, with Micky van de Ven set to return next month and Richarlison and Wilson Odobert out of action until next year. Despite the current trio of hamstring woes, Postecoglou explained that last season's review of the medical side of the club did bring plenty of alterations.

"Yeah, a fair bit has changed. We changed a fair bit in that space in terms of personnel first of all, people. Then with the way we’re dealing with injury prevention and injuries," he said. "This year, the unfortunate thing is that we’re hit in the same sort of areas. In the attacking third we’ve had significant injuries which means you’re thin in that place and can’t overload people and some of it’s a circumstance of that, but we have addressed it in the off season.

"The nature of the way we train and play is always going to be on the edge, it’s kind of by design which means you can have some attrition but the ones we’ve had this year for the most part like Richy and Wilson are just a consequence of the way we train and play and players just not being ready for it."

He added: "You can [ease off in training], but I just feel it will take away from what we’re trying to create here. I believe you get more robust as you move along the journey and we’ve seen that with some players really thriving, getting better performances and better physical outputs from a lot of the players in this second year with us and that gets inbuilt as you go along but there’s some attrition, yeah."

After Spurs' dismal defeat to Ipswich before the international, which robbed the north London club of the chance to climb into third place in the Premier League table, Postecoglou took the blame and said that he will have to adjust his approach. So what does that actually mean in practice for the Australian?

"I’m always reflecting. I don't think I would have lasted this long if I was just… and I know people try to paint me as one-dimensional, there are certain beliefs that I have that I won’t waver on, but within that process, there’s always things [I adapt], because there’s different challenges wherever you go," he said.

"I just think the games we’ve really got stuck in this year, where we’ve really struggled to find solutions in games, I’m thinking about Brighton second half, Palace and Ipswich, where we didn’t really have solutions out there. The solutions do exist, they exist within our football but maybe the way I’m messaging that - that’s the reflective bit for me.

"To say 'How can I become even clearer' or find a different way of showing the players that when we do get stuck in these moments, because obviously currently how I am doing it hasn’t had the impact I’d hope it would have. So there’s always self reflection. I am steadfast and I am clear that I have some really strong principles that I just won’t budge on, but that doesn’t mean I don't feel at times I need to adapt in the way I deliver things or the way I work."

Saturday evening's match at the Etihad Stadium will represent Postecoglou's 50th Premier League game in charge of Tottenham and he believes that you need to look across that entire stretch of games and see where the team was before he arrived at the helm.

"You’ve got to look at it in totality of those 50 games, because your question probably would have been framed differently if we’d won the last game – it might have been 'after 50 games would you expect to be third and still in the Carabao Cup and going well in Europe?’ So because of one result, we look at it the other way," said the Spurs head coach.

"What I try to do is look at that totality and consider our starting point, and I keep going back to that because I think people forget our starting point. I took over a club that finished eighth. I didn’t take over a club that finished second, third, fourth, fifth. Finished eighth. No European football. Significant player turnover. Significant. Change of playing style.

"Where did I think we’d be after 50 games? God knows. It could have been a whole lot worse, but when you look at it in the current prism of we’re tenth, you’re going 'it doesn’t look good' and I understand that and we have to improve that, but over the 50 games I think there’s enough there that shows we are progressing as a team and we are developing into the team we want. The key is the next 50 games, if they can be in totality better than the first 50. First, that means I’m here but second, I think we’ll be in a good space."

Many point to those early months of his tenure last year with the team unbeaten and on top of the Premier League. Did that phase set the bar too high for the major work that was to be done in rebuilding the club?

"No because it was what it was. That’s become a millstone because I started too well. What was I supposed to do? Start crap, and everyone says ‘oh they’ve improved’?" he said. "We were riding a bit of a wave, with new enthusiasm, but a lot of those games were very close mate.

"Last minute goal against Sheffield United. One or two of those go differently and our season doesn’t look that much better. So you understand that context. I didn’t get carried away with that, nor have I sort of lost any belief in what we’re doing just because we’re where we are now.

"That’s always my view on these things, I won’t just look at what’s in front of us right now. I look at the totality of what we’re trying to do. I firmly believe we’re on the right path. I firmly believe in this squad of players. I firmly believe we will have success. Those things are still there but I can see why outwardly, if you put a pin in it right now, it doesn’t look that way."

The 30 days ahead will bring nine matches in all with a game every weekend and midweek until the end of 2024. It's a stretch of matches that could go a long way in deciding how Tottenham's season shapes up.

"In the league it might do, although I’ve got a sense it might be tight all season," said Postecoglou when that was put to him. "Certainly for us I think it’s a significant period because I think you look at those games and we’ve got the league where we’ve got to improve our position and a couple of important European fixtures that can set us up for the back half of the year. Also, a Carabao Cup quarter-final.

"So at the end of that period we could be in a decent position for a strong second half of the year, so for us it is an important period. You know there’s no more international breaks, so the full focus is here, so you can build some momentum through that, or if things don’t go well you could get yourself into a bit of a grind. So, for us, it’s going to be a really pivotal part of the season."

So what will Christmas be like in the Postecoglou household if Spurs are still stuck around 10th spot?

“Christmas is a joyous occasion, mate, irrespective and I think it should be celebrated…if we’re still 10th then people won’t be happy, I won’t be happy, but we might not be 10th," said the Tottenham boss.

"Of course. When I say I don't look at the table, I don't look at the table in terms of where I think our progress is, but obviously the table reflects where we’re at. Of course. If we had beaten Ipswich, we’d be third and I reckon this press conference would be much different wouldn’t it?

"I’m not going to let my life be dictated by one result, I’m sorry. I take a wider perspective on these things because I know how fickle it can be, but we need to address our position for sure. And if we’re 10th at Christmas, yeah it won’t be great, for sure. Rightly so, there would be a lot of scrutiny and probably a lot of scrutiny around me which is fair enough but that’s not where I plan for us to be."

Spurs travel to a City side buoyed by Pep Guardiola signing a new contract and committing his immediate future to the Manchester outfit. Postecoglou is relishing the chance to continue to try to catch the six-time Premier League-winning juggernaut that City have become under the Spaniard.

"It is a great challenge, but I love the fact that there's a massive target out there that can seem insurmountable. That raises my level and gets me going," he said. "I lived the experience of equalisation in sport in Australia and it's great from a competitive point of view because everyone believes they can win, but after a while I used to get frustrated by it because excellence tends to be capped at a certain point. It's up to everyone else to bridge that gap [to City]. I love the challenge of that and I would never see that as a bad thing."

Postecoglou laughed when asked whether there was any part of him that wanted Guardiola to call it a day as City boss.

"I look at it the other way. I go 'imagine if you knock him off' [the top]. That'd be something. I'm at the stage of my life where I'd rather have the chance of knocking him off than missing that opportunity," he said. "When greatness is around, you want to be around it, and hopefully it challenges you to be like that as well."

Ange Postecoglou has a flurry of injury concerns within his Tottenham Hotspur squad right now as they prepare to face Manchester City on Saturday.

The Spurs boss currently has a list of injured or ill players unavailable to face Pep Guardiola's side and has lost Rodrigo Bentancur to a seven-game suspension. The international break has not been kind to the north London side with another addition to the treatment room as well as a scare.

Here's a look at all of Tottenham's injury news and when they are expected to return to action for Postecoglou in the weeks or months ahead.

Dejan Kulusevski

Let's start with a positive one before we dive into the pain. Plenty of Tottenham fans were worried when Dejan Kulusevski ended a great performance for Sweden against Azerbaijan in midweek by falling to the floor in agony with a shoulder problem that has been causing him problems in recent games for the club.

It's been a recurring problem and Spurs supporters have been concerned that the in-form Swede would not make the trip to the Etihad Stadium, a place he's had a lot of joy in, but there was some positive news when football.london asked Postecoglou on Friday about Kulusevski.

"No, it's nothing major and actually he's improved since he went away," he said. "Coming back today he actually feels better, it's just he's had a couple of significant knocks all in the same area in the last couple of weeks, but nothing permanent or major that needs any attention."

Return date: Fit to face Manchester City.

Cristian Romero

The Spurs vice-captain was back to face Ipswich after suffering a toe injury in the win against Aston Villa, but then went off at half-time in Argentina's defeat in Paraguay last week with pain in the same foot. He missed his country's second game and then became a father for a second time days later when his wife gave birth to a little girl named Lucy.

Postecoglou gave an update on Romero on Friday afternoon, saying: "Romero won’t be right for tomorrow’s game. We are hoping he will be right for next week."

Return date: Potentially either the game against Roma or next weekend's game vs Fulham judging by Postecoglou's comments.

Micky van de Ven

The Dutchman has been out since feeling pain in his hamstring in the Carabao Cup win against Manchester City. Postecoglou gave an update this week stating that Van de Ven is training outside on the grass again and the Spurs boss hopes the young centre-back will be back in action in mid-December with the team.

He also told football.london on Friday: "You try to treat it as it is. We'll get the advice from the medical team and the people working with him. I think there's always a natural cautiousness with somebody who has a reoccurring problem but at the same time you don't want to treat him with too many kid gloves around him because otherwise he's still go to go out there and play at some point. But it's fair to say we're taking all the appropriate steps and Micky will be a good judge of that as well and where he's at."

Return date: Mid-December.

Richarlison

The Brazilian has had a nightmare with injuries since joining Spurs and this season has been no different. The club had been taking it carefully with him, only for Richarlison to badly injure his hamstring while setting up Dominic Solanke's goal against Aston Villa.

Postecoglou has called it a "significant injury" and when speaking to football.london on Friday said that "Richy hopefully will be back in the new year but similar to Micky we just need to be careful every step of the way".

Return date: In the new year.

Wilson Odobert

The 19-year-old French winger has played just 162 minutes in the Premier League this season after suffering a hamstring injury against Coventry in the Carabao Cup in September. Odobert returned to action in the final few minutes of the Europa League game against AZ Alkmaar in late October only to suffer another problem.

On Saturday, Odobert posted a photo from a bed at The Princess Grace Hospital in Marylebone, London along with the caption 'Thanks God'. The club then confirmed the following day that he "underwent surgery to his right hamstring. The 19-year-old will continue to be closely monitored by our medical team to determine when he can return to training".

Postecoglou told football.london on Friday that "obviously Wilson will be out for a fair chunk of the season".

Return date: In 2025.

Mikey Moore

The 17-year-old attacking midfielder was flying for Spurs and then got laid low this month by a nasty virus. It knocked Moore for six and meant he missed a couple of matches. His head coach confirmed on Friday that he was still not right yet to return to be in the squad to face City.

football.london asked Postecoglou about the talented teenager and whether he had been really hit hard by the virus.

"Yeah he was and because he's young as well, we just need to be careful with these things. He's back up and about, back in the building and everything, but we'll take our time with him," said the Australian.

Return date: As long as he needs to feel 100% again.

At the luxurious Nobu Hotel in London on Friday morning, a vote was cast among the 20 Premier League member clubs, its shareholders, regarding proposed changes to the rules governing commercial deals. The Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules were initially introduced to prevent clubs with certain ownership groups, who had the capacity to utilise other related assets, from striking deals above fair market value.

However, following Newcastle United's takeover by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), 'fair market value' regulations were implemented. Earlier this year, current champions Manchester City initiated legal action against the Premier League's APT rules, alleging their unlawfulness.

While many of City's arguments were dismissed by the independent commission that heard the case, some points were agreed upon, including the notion that interest-free shareholder loans from owners should be factored into the league's profit and sustainability rules (PSR). In response, the Premier League made amendments which were then put to a vote on Friday among the 20 member clubs, requiring 14 votes for approval.

They secured 16 votes, with Manchester City, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, and Aston Villa opposing the proposals, while representatives from Chelsea and Manchester United advocated for the changes to the members present.

Following discussions, the Premier League has announced that adjustments to the APT rules will involve "integrating the assessment of shareholder loans" with some prior amendments being rolled back. In a statement, the League explained: "The purpose of the APT rules is to ensure clubs are not able to benefit from commercial deals or reductions in costs that are not at fair market value by virtue of relationships with associated parties," reports the Manchester Evening News.

Despite legal actions initiated by Manchester City leading to enforced changes, such as the inclusion of shareholder loans in PSR assessments potentially affecting some clubs in upcoming years, elements implemeted earlier this year have been withdrawn, somewhat diluting the strength of the regulations.

Nonetheless, the Premier League deems the vote a positive outcome, especially considering any additional sway by City and those on their side could have prompted significant alterations in how commercial agreements are forged. This comes at a time when the Premier League's capacity for self-regulation faces scrutiny, highlighted by the ongoing commission hearing into Manchester City concerning accusations of financial control breaches over an extensive period.

It's likely that this won't be the end of the matter, with City previously indicating they would pursue further legal action if the decision didn't go in their favour. This could mean more legal fees for the Premier League to contend with, funds which would otherwise be part of the central funding and distributed to member clubs.

Despite the potential for assessing shareholder loans for PSR purposes, 16 clubs felt the existing rules were suitable, possibly due to fears of being outpaced in revenue generation if team owners could heavily rely on their related assets.

Snow and ice have hit the United Kingdom this week with temperatures dropping rapidly as we head into winter.

On Thursday night, the temperature dropped below freezing in London as cold nights continue to reign as Christmas edges closer. Some Londoners woke up to snow on Tuesday morning as a yellow warning of ice hit the capital.

Premier League games in the snow are a unique spectacle for fans. They are rare as stadiums these days are built with undersoil heating and frost-covers which prevent the pitch from freezing when temperatures fall below zero.

Although the pitches shouldn't be a worry, the surrounding areas could pose more of a risk. This will be in the front of the minds of London club fans whether travelling home or away. There have been instances where Prem matches were postponed due to snow. We have taken a look at what the weather says for fans.

Arsenal, who are playing at home against Nottingham Forest, looks to be a safe bet. With sunshine on Friday in London and just the light rain forecast on Saturday, Gunners fan should not be concerned for their match facing any difficulties.

Fans travelling away will need to keep a closer eye on the weather. Chelsea travel to Leicester for the midday kick-off on Saturday. The Midlands has experienced a chilly Friday with highs of 4, dropping to lows of -1.

With the earlier kick-off, this leaves less time for any ice to melt. Saturday morning will bring heavy rain, gusty winds and cold temperatures - with the showers likely to melt any lingering snow away.

Tottenham's visit to the Ethiad comes with some yellow weather warnings. The cold weather persisted throughout Friday in Manchester with temperatures very similar to Leicester. On the Saturday, yellow warnings of rain and snow have been set from 4am to 9am the next day. This highlights possible travel delays when heading up north.

While the rain does look strong, it could be doing fans a favour with melting away any remaining snow and ice as temperatures rise to 12 degrees by kick-off.

Although both games face challenging weather conditions, it is likely that both will be safe to play and will go ahead.

Ange Postecoglou has indicated that Tottenham's January plans may depend on the status of his squad come the turn of the year. Following a busy summer transfer window in north London, Spurs supporters will be hoping that a couple more additions can be added to the roster in January to give the team a boost in what remains of the season.

Tottenham will be looking to go far in the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and Europa League in 2025 as well as finishing as high as possible in the Premier League. As things stand at present, Spurs are quite short on numbers due to various injuries and also the loss of Rodrigo Bentancur to a seven-match ban - though the midfielder will return before the end of the year.

Micky van de Ven is not expected to return to action until the middle of next month due to his hamstring injury, with fellow first-choice centre-back Cristian Romero unavailable for Saturday's game at Manchester City. Wilson Odobert faces a lengthy spell in the treatment room after undergoing hamstring surgery last weekend, Richarlison will also be absent for a period of time after such an injury-hit campaign so far and Mikey Moore remains out after missing games prior to the international break through illness.

Due to a lack of available players right now, Postecoglou was asked by football.london in his pre-match press conference if the current injuries will force him to change his transfer plans in the winter market. When giving his answer, the 59-year-old hinted at timeframes for Odobert and Richarlison to feature again.

"It just depends. Again, January is always a tricky one. You don't really plan for significant things in January, but a lot of that will be dictated by how we are at that time," he explained.

"Obviously Wilson will be out for a fair chunk of the season, Richy hopefully will be back in the new year but similar to Micky we just need to be careful every step of the way and Mikey will still be out for a little bit of time. So, we're a little bit short there but it just depends if by January we get two or three back we may not need to but we'll kind of see as it goes."

Despite a number of blows at present at a time when Tottenham need to find some consistency in the league, Postecoglou believes that his players are ready to get on with things rather than feeling sorry for themselves.

"I don't get the sense they are," he added. "Obviously it's three international breaks we've gone in on the back of a loss which is not great to deal with, but you can see with the way they've performed at international level, they've made significant impacts most of the guys that went away so that helps with their mindset to move on quickly.

"It's really important when they come back here again we move on pretty quickly. They understand we still have got to do our review and we did that. We looked back at the areas we need to be better, but I don't get the sense the lads are down in the dumps in any way. I think there is a determination there to get back to the level we need to be and get consistency around that."

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

How is Cristian Romero?

Romero won’t be right for tomorrow’s game. We are hoping he will be right for next week.

Have you spoken to Rodrigo Bentancur?

Yeah I spoke to him briefly now, he only got in late yesterday so today was the first day I saw him. He has accepted all along that he is going to take whatever penalty comes his way. At the same time, like I said yesterday, for us it is about trying to support him through that process and hopefully get through it and once the ban is over get him to be ready to contribute.

Man City have lots of players coming back from injury and Guardiola’s extended his contract, it could be a really tough game?

It is tough yeah, you are playing City at their place and they have a pretty imposing record there. Those four losses have all been away from home. Irrespective, it is always a great test and a great challenge for us to go there and see whether we can disrupt things again and hopefully put some pressure on them but we know it is never an easy task. It is great that Pep has resigned. It is fantastic for the Premier League. He keeps setting the standard which is great for all of us trying to mow him down.

How did Pep Guardiola revolutionise football?

I think in many varied and different ways. One is through a sustained excellence. It is not easy to win in different countries and I know that he has been at big clubs but again, as we have seen recently, that is not necessarily transferable to winning things all the time. You still have to do it. So he has maintained a ridiculous level of excellence. The way his team plays, they are always challenging every opponent they face and just his energy to maintain that for so long is outstanding. He will go down as one of the greats already but the indication that he has resigned probably means that there is more to come.

Are you where you were hoping you'd be at this point? How far along are you?

It's kind of mixed because we are definitely a better side than we were last year. That's what you're looking at, to progress as a football team. Within that context a lot of our players have developed more but within that context our results haven't reflected that which is a major part of what you do. You want to prove your standing in the game and our results haven't reflected that. I am still very, very bullish and excited about our progress as a team. We've just got to push on from where we are now to get that consistency that will reflect in more positive results.

Are the leaders key in your team?

Yes, that's very important. In every dressing room your leaders, are in difficult and good times, ignore the noise on both fronts. Certainly, with us, it is part of our growth. The leadership in the group is constantly challenged by them moments when we have a drop off in performance. They are the first ones to look at what they can do differently. Within that, I think you get growth and, not just with Sonny, Romero and Madders, but I think Deki is growing all the time and captained Sweden. Ben is captain of Wales, Biss is captain of Mali, we've got some leaders in there but t is making sure that the dressing room maintains its focus.

Is it sending a mixed message with Bentancur of appealing the punishment and sending potentially a bad look?

I'm not interested in looks or what people want to make....He's said he's made a mistake. We'll accept whatever penalty comes our way. We believe that the first one was a little bit harsh so we've appealed that which I think is our right. That's the whole process. Even if you look at the punishment, it's at the lower end of the scale so even the people who have all of the information have adjudicated that way.

I get that people want to burn people at the stake nowadays, but as I keep saying part of this process if you want real education and progress is to understand that when somebody makes a mistake and they pay the penalty, part of that is education and hopefully treating them in the way that people see that's a way forward, whether it's Rodrigo or anyone else.

I'm old enough in life that I've made bigger mistakes than that mate, but I was allowed to learn from them and hopefully I'm a better human being because of that.

Maybe from the outside it seems like what's the point because you can only chop off one game because six is the minimum for this kind of charge, is it really worth it so he can maybe play one game against Liverpool?

Couldn't care less who it's against but yes it's worth it because that's what we feel. We still have a judicial process. That's why appeals are there. We're not going outside the jurisdiction, we're not trying to create something that's not available to us. We think it was harsh, we think it shoulder have been the minimum and we'll go through that process. If it's deemed not then we'll accept that.

We're not going to just accept to something if we feel that it's not the right thing in terms of our process. So I'm fully supportive and we'll abide by any decision but that's why there's an appeal process.

It's been a long time coming and Ben Davies said the team have drawn a line under it, so is it a case that this issue has not affected your week at all?

No it hasn't because it's not like we've ignored it the whole way through. While on the outside it may, but internally we understand and we've been helping Rodrigo through the process of understanding it and the whole group about understanding the ramifications of making such a mistake. That's how you get progress and the whole group understands that. Is it a daily topic? No, it's not because there's a lot of other things going on but it's not like we're pretending it didn't happen. We know it happened and the appropriate people are dealing with it, we have dealt with it within the four walls of our dressing room.

Do you have to be careful with Micky van de Ven after three or four hamstring injuries within 18 months or so?

You try to treat it as it is. We'll get the advice from the medical team and the people working with him. I think there's always a natural cautiousness with somebody who has a reoccurring problem but at the same time you don't want to treat him with too many kid gloves around him because otherwise he's still go to go out there and play at some point. But it's fair to say we're taking all the appropriate steps and Micky will be a good judge of that as well and where he's at.

You've got Richarlison and Wilson out for a significant amount of time, will that force you to change your transfer plans for January?

It just depends. Again, January is always a tricky one. You don't really plan for significant things in January, but a lot of that will be dictated by how we are at that time. Obviously Wilson will be out for a fair chunk of the season, Richy hopefully will be back in the new year but similar to Micky we just need to be careful every step of the way and Mikey will still be out for a little bit of time. So, we're a little bit short there but it just depends if by January we get two or three back we may not need to but we'll kind of see as it goes.

Was Mikey Moore hit bad by that virus?

Yeah he was and because he's young as well, we just need to be careful with these things. He's back up and about, back in the building and everything, but we'll take our time with him."

Dejan Kulusevski impressed for Sweden but hurt his shoulder again for the third time in recent weeks, is that something that needs to be fixed?

No, it's nothing major and actually he's improved since he went away. Coming back today he actually feels better, it's just he's had a couple of significant knocks all in the same area in the last couple of weeks, but nothing permanent or major that needs any attention."

It's been a bad international break with the Odobert surgery, Bentancur ban, Romero injury, do you have to be on the players to make sure they are not feeling sorry for themselves with City up next?

I don't get the sense they are. Obviously it's three international breaks we've gone in on the back of a loss which is not great to deal with, but you can see with the way they've performed at international level, they've made significant impacts most of the guys that went away so that helps with their mindset to move on quickly. It's really important when they come back here again we move on pretty quickly. They understand we still have got to do our review and we did that. We looked back at the areas we need to be better, but I don't get the sense the lads are down in the dumps in any way. I think there is a determination there to get back to the level we need to be and get consistency around that.