Spurs boss Postecoglou gives injury update on Maddison as he predicts ‘some’ transfer ‘movement’
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has revealed that James Maddison trained today and is “available” for selection after an injury scare.
Maddison starred in midfield to help Ange Postecoglou claim a maiden Premier League win against Manchester United, with Pape Sarr’s first Spurs strike and an own goal by Lisandro Martinez handing the hosts a fine first victory of the season.
Summer signing Maddison completed 90 minutes but was spotted leaving Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on crutches and in a protective boot on Saturday night.
Maddison played the boot down at the time as a precaution and now Spurs boss Postecoglou has insisted that the former Leicester City playmaker should be fit to play Bournemouth on Saturday lunchtime.
Postecoglou told a pre-match press conference: “Madders trained today unrestricted. We’ll see how he holds up but at the moment he will be available.
“I think it was the incident when Romero got brought down, he had a shot and it was a block tackle. His ankle was a bit sore after that but medical team looked after him. There was no real push to have him available. It was down to him.
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“People would have seen him in a moon boot but it was more precautionary. He has felt good and probably could have trained yesterday.”
When asked whether the size of squad was making more incomings unlikely, Postecoglou added: “Not necessarily. These kind of things are pretty fluid, they can happen pretty quickly.
“At the moment you can see by doing the maths we have got too many players in terms of when we submit our final list, there will be guys here who won’t be on that list if nothing changes so I am pretty sure that will change. From now until the end of the window I am sure there will be some movement.
On Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg not playing much or being part of his leadership group, Postecoglou continued: “He’s training well. I get that people want to read into that, but if you want to change you have to change. You can’t keep doing everything the same and expect a different outcome. It’s pretty obvious. I’ve always done that wherever I’ve done.
“Unless I change things, personnel or staff or manner of playing, then what am I doing? I’m definitely not that arrogant to think that just me walking in is going to give us success.
“You have to actually make meaningful change. That’s what the club wanted. By appointing me, I presume they wanted to go in a different direction. Then it’s about making those decisions that institute change. Does it bring more out of people? Pierre, he trains really hard every day.
“I thought he played a really important role coming on for us against Man U the other day. I haven’t seen that it’s diminished his role or he’s not happy. Hopefully you’ve got a couple of players in every position that are pushing each other every day to be the best they can be.”
