A member of Ange Postecoglou‘s squad has been dealt a serious injury blow as reliable journalist Alasdair Gold shares news out of Tottenham.
Spurs chasing top four finish but injuries threaten form
The Lilywhites are chasing Champions League football and a top-four finish this season, but will need to pick up their form quickly amid fierce competition from the likes of Aston Villa and Man United.
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Spurs won’t be in action again until early March, giving Postecoglou plenty of time to regather his troops and prepare them for a crunch final third of the 2023/2024 campaign.
The north Londoners have reigned victorious in four out of their last eight in all competitions, which is solid but not exactly spectacular, so the head coach will be looking to rediscover their early-season prowess, when Tottenham won 10 on the bounce at one stage.
“In the last couple of home games we haven’t (started strongly), in the beginning of the year we did, we’re not doing anything different,” said Postecoglou on Tottenham’s current form.
|
Tottenham’s upcoming league fixtures |
Date |
|---|---|
|
Crystal Palace (home) |
March 2nd |
|
Aston Villa (away) |
March 10th |
|
Fulham (away) |
March 16th |
|
Luton Town (home) |
March 30th |
“Sometimes it’s the mindset going into games, sometimes it’s the opposition, or just the context of the game. Certainly for us to dominate games like we want to, we need to start aggressively and try to put the opposition on the back foot, and we haven’t really done that the last two or three games.
“When we were doing that, it gave us a foothold in games that we’re not getting at the moment. If you get a foothold and put them under pressure that limits the opportunities that they have the other way.”
Postecoglou will also have to be wary of key absentees, as highlighted by their real slump in form when both Micky van de Ven and James Maddison picked up long-term injuries against Chelsea in November last year.
Van de Ven’s hamstring problem, coupled with Maddison’s ankle ligament damage, handed Postecoglou a real conundrum at the time, and you can never rule out similar incidents occurring later in the season.
Defender Ryan Sessegnon knows this better than anyone, with the Englishman dealt a “heartbreaking” injury when playing his way back to full fitness for Spurs’ Under-21s this week.
Sessegnon dealt another hamstring injury at Tottenham
As reported by Alasdair Gold, it is believed Sessegnon has suffered another hamstring injury, this time on his opposing side, in what is a killer blow for the player who former Leeds striker Noel Whelan called “outstanding”.
“33 minutes was when he went down. You looked at him and he stayed down with his hands on his head, he was absolutely gutted,” said Gold.
“The physios worked on him for five minutes, and he couldn’t even put much weight on it. It was just rubbish. From what I understand it is a hamstring problem, but this time it’s on the other side.”
Sessegnon hasn’t been able to prove his worth under Postecoglou due to his reoccurring injury problems, and you can’t help but feel very sorry for the Englishman.