Tottenham injury blow: Postecoglou confirms key defender out until ‘after the international break’
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has ruled out defender Micky van de Ven until after the international break.
Van de Ven only lasted 14 minutes against Manchester City in his side’s 2-1 Carabao Cup victory on Wednesday and Postecoglou has confirmed he has a hamstring injury that will see him miss Sunday’s match against Aston Villa.
“Micky is the main one (injury worry),” the Tottenham head coach told reporters on Friday.
“He has strained a hamstring but it is not too serious. After the international break for him.
“He is disappointed obviously and was looking forward to the game.
“Certainly not a bad one like the last one.
“He will work hard and the international break is an extra two weeks so hopefully he does not miss much.”
This is the third hamstring injury for Van de Ven since he joined the club last summer.
The Netherlands international will likely be replaced at centre-back by Radu Dragusin.
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Postecoglou added that Cristian Romero and Timo Werner have knocks, while captain Heung-min Son will play against Villa if he “gets through” Saturday’s training session.
“The other one was Romero andWerner but they still have a chance for the weekend,” he said.
“Sonny trained today and if he gets through tomorrow should be okay.”
Meanwhile, former Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has predicted Postecoglou’s men to beat Villa 2-1 on Sunday.
“What a Sunday we’ve got, and it starts with what should be a great game,” Redknapp said.
“I know Manchester City made a few changes but boy that was a big win for Spurs during the week. I thought they were really poor away at [Crystal] Palace last week, so it was important they bounced back so soon.
“Villa have now drawn three of their last four in the league and last week’s draw to Bournemouth must have been a tough one to take. It looks like it will be a really close race for the top four this season, they can’t afford too many dropped points.
“Spurs are a bit hit and miss on the road but at home, they tend to create and score plenty. I’m going for a 2-1 Spurs win but I’m not feeling too confident!”