{"id":294912,"date":"2023-11-11T23:25:39","date_gmt":"2023-11-11T23:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=294912"},"modified":"2023-11-11T23:25:39","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T23:25:39","slug":"anges-bittersweet-week-as-he-faces-big-challenge-at-spurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/anges-bittersweet-week-as-he-faces-big-challenge-at-spurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Ange\u2019s bittersweet week as he faces \u2018big challenge\u2019 at Spurs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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London:<\/strong> Tottenham Hotspur\u2019s injury woes have deepened with England midfielder James Maddison and Dutch centre-back Micky van de Ven out until the New Year, manager Ange Postecoglou said on Friday.<\/p>\n Spurs lost Maddison and Van de Ven to injuries before half-time in Monday\u2019s 4-1 home Premier League defeat by Chelsea. Maddison withdrew from England\u2019s squad earlier on Friday for their last two Euro 2024 qualifiers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n The injuries mark a bittersweet week for Postecoglou as Spurs lost top spot, but the Australian won a third straight Premier League manager of the month award. Tottenham are second in the standings, one point behind champions Manchester City.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t get a lot of time to enjoy the moment, do you? It\u2019s fair to say there was a fair bit that happened after Monday night,\u201d Postecoglou told reporters ahead of Saturday\u2019s trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers.<\/p>\n \u201cMicky with a hamstring injury we knew was fairly significant. We\u2019re looking at a couple of months, looking into the New Year.<\/p>\n \u201cMadders [Maddison is] a lot worse than we first thought. It was bad the next day. Again, into the New Year with him.\u201d<\/p>\n Forward Richarlison is also sidelined after he underwent groin surgery which will keep him out of action for a few weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cRicharlison had the operation which we kind of scheduled anyway, he\u2019s been battling with that since day one and the international break is coming up. He should be a month if everything goes well,\u201d Postecoglou added.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a couple of suspensions [Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie] as well … But Ben Davies is back and available. Pedro Porro is fine and available.\u201d<\/p>\n Injuries and suspensions mean Postecoglou is without three of his regular back four.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it was just Micky, you\u2019d miss him because of the qualities he has. It wouldn\u2019t disrupt us as much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we\u2019ve got to bring in three different players in a back four, that\u2019s the big challenge for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Postecoglou said the number of absentees give second-string players such as Giovani Lo Celso, Bryan Gil, Oliver Skipp and Eric Dier a chance to impress while they would be careful with Rodrigo Bentancur following his return from a knee injury.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is why they have been training hard. They have been training with us, they haven\u2019t been separate from the group,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFair to say the opportunity comes now for a few of them. It\u2019s up to them now to take that opportunity, but they\u2019ve been preparing themselves for that since the first day.\u201d<\/p>\n Reuters<\/strong><\/p>\n News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. London: Tottenham Hotspur\u2019s injury woes have deepened with […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMost Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n
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