Ange Postecoglou will not be the only one boosted by the expected return of several Tottenham stars against Manchester United this weekend. Spurs have been consistently plagued by injuries this season but those worries look set to alleviate over the coming weeks.
As Postecoglou was able to work with his squad for a full week without interruption at Hotspur Way, that was actually mostly rest days after damaging defeats in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, two long-awaited defensive returns are expected.
"Some of the lads who have been out for quite a while look like they’re in a good place now, Vic is probably the one who has come back ahead of schedule," he told Tottenham's official website.
"He’s been training really well away from the team for two weeks. In the last 10 days he’s integrated back into the team and is fully into training, so he’s in a good place and that means he becomes available for us.”
"Of the longer-term (injuries), Destiny is back in team training as well, which is good. He’s ticked all the boxes in terms of getting through his rehab and conditioning, so he’s part of the squad." Given those positive updates, at least one change is likely with Vicario coming straight back into the team for Antonin Kinsky.
As for Udogie, it is possible he is named on the bench with Djed Spence in good form and Archie Gray able to cover at right-back to give Pedro Porro a rest with Ben Davies then partnering Kevin Danso. Further forward, another huge return is on the cards.
"Madders is a little bit ahead of schedule (in his recovery)," Postecoglou said. "He’s feeling really good. He’s had a good week of training. We were thinking maybe (it'll be) next week for him, but he’s trained really well all week, and he’s had the least amount of time out, so he’s looking in a good place."
As he has only missed a few weeks, the 28-year-old could and probably should be back in the starting XI. The main reason for such a decision needing to be made is because Dejan Kulusevski is in dire need of a significant rest. In the absence of Maddison and Brennan Johnson, he has played 14 full games since mid-December.
To further prove how badly he needs to recover, the Swede is just half an hour off completing a full Premier League season which 3,420 minutes. Postecoglou is of course a huge fan of the former Juventus man, but for him to have any impact in the final months of the season, he must spend more time on the bench.
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