Tottenham Hotspur confirm big double Europa League injury update after West Ham
Dominic Solanke will be fit to play in the Europa League this week, according to Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.
After his team’s 1-1 draw with West Ham on Sunday afternoon, Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou gave an update on the fitness of midfielder James Maddison and forward Dominic Solanke.
In Thursday night’s 3-1 victory over Bodo/Glimt, Solanke hobbled off and was not included in the matchday squad to play the Hammers. Although Postecoglou had first downplayed concerns about injuries, it was concerning that the talisman did not even make the bench over the weekend.
After the game, when asked for an update, Postecoglou stated: “Dom is getting better. The medical staff is fairly certain that he should be available on Thursday, even though we plainly left him out today.
Ange Postecoglou provides update on James Maddison scan
Midfielder James Maddison, meanwhile, was also left out of the squad to play West Ham due to a knee injury, which Postecoglou confirmed had been scanned. The former Leicester City playmaker scored the team’s second goal in the first leg against Bodo/Glimt, playing 65 minutes.
Postecoglou stated: “It doesn’t look great. We’re waiting for further information. We’ll just wait and see, hopefully we’ll probably get some clarity tomorrow. Fair to say, it’s not looking promising but I’ll wait and see.”
Postecoglou made eight changes to his team’s lineup for Thursday’s match against Bodo/Glimt, but he was happy with how his team performed against West Ham. Wilson Odobert gave the team the lead after Mathys Tel pounced on a mistake by Max Kilman, and Jarrod Bowen responded with a tidy finish just before halftime.
Spurs boss ‘proud’ of West Ham showing
Postecoglou responded to the game by saying: “I’m proud of the players, but it’s difficult to make so many changes, and that will affect the team’s rhythm and fluency.” Some of the players haven’t played frequently, even individually. It wasn’t simply the adjustments; many of them played longer than they had lately because I only added one substitute. Although we were dissatisfied with the outcome, I felt that we did the best we could to neutralise their threat. The efforts made today were excellent, in my opinion.
In addition to captain Son Heung-min being doubtful, Tottenham Hotspur will not have midfielder Lucas Bergvall or defender Radu Dragusin for the second leg against Bodo/Glimt. Spurs travel to Norway on Thursday night, and if they maintain their lead, either Manchester United or Athletic Bilbao will be waiting for them in the championship match.
Regarding Bergvall’s injury, which occurred shortly before the first leg in north London, Postecoglou stated: “He’s really sad. Only that every football and life experience makes you stronger and more grateful for what you have, and that he has an incredible career ahead of him, are the only things you can say.
“I say to the guys all the time, we’ve got to take what’s before us now. We can all assume that it will happen next year or the year after but you just don’t know, sometimes life works in mysterious ways and it’s denied Lucas the opportunity to play in a massive game last night. He’s been a massive contributor for us, but I’ve no doubt he’ll come back stronger. Sometimes, you look at footballers and their careers and we think they’ve got it all good, but every player has to go through setbacks at different times for different reasons and it’s all part of what makes them stronger and allows them to grow, and I’m sure that will be the case with Lucas.”
