Things are not looking good for Tottenham Hotspur right now. After just falling 2-1 to Wolves, Spurs will now head into the long layoff with a loss. Additionally, manager Ange Postecoglou confirmed yesterday that the squad has some more injuries to contend with. We’ll cover that all in two parts here. The first installment focuses on Destiny Udogie, Pedro Porro and Fraser Forster.
The second part focuses on Ryan Sessegnon.
โWeโve had a couple of setbacks this week,” Postecoglu said at his press conference yesterday.
“Destiny ( Udogie ) obviously picked up a little bit of a knock last week. Not available for tomorrow, donโt think it is anything too serious. With no game next weekend, he should be back. Pedro ( Porro ) picked up a strain at training.
“Again, probably a couple of weeks for him. With the game break hopefully he doesnโt miss too many.”
With Chelsea having reached the EFL Cup Final, which will be staged a week from tomorrow, Tottenham’s midweek clash with the Blues has been postponed.
Udogie (starting left back) and Porro (starting right back), who will both return to action in March it appears, were replaced by Ben Davies and Emerson Royal in the lineup.
โIt doesnโt change the way we play but I think Iโve said in the past a player brings their own sort of unique ability to each position,” Postecoglu added.
“The structure wonโt change and the way we set up wonโt change but different players bring different attributes.
โPedro and Destiny have been outstanding for us this year. Pedro has pretty much played every game apart from the first one where he didnโt start. Destiny every time he has been out there for us has been really important.
“Theyโre both improving but as I said theyโre missing now and there will be an opportunity for a couple of other guys to come in and make sure we maintain the levels weโve set so far.โ
Udogie, 21, is considered one of the most valuable young and developing talents in world football. The Italian international made the switch from Udinese this past summer, and he’s scored two goals and registered three assists in 21 league appearances thus far this season.
Postecoglu was not done listing out the new injury list. He continued:
“Probably the major one for us is Fraser Forster โ got a knock in training, got a fracture in his foot. Heโll probably miss conservatively a couple of months. They are the main three.
“Coming back, nothing from last week. Everyone is available.โ
With Forster out until sometime in April, at the very least, the third choice shot stopper, Brandon Austin, will now serve as the No. 2 behind the first team keeper, Guglielmo Vicario.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor ofย The Sports Bank.ย Heโs also theย author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMGโs NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated,ย Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times.ย You can follow himย onย Twitter.
