Tottenham Hotspur do not return to Premier League action until April 3 with the trip to Chelsea and there is a rare opportunity for Ange Postecoglou to work with his players for a while after an international break.
Having an FA Cup weekend after the players all return from playing for their countries means that both Tottenham and Chelsea, who exited the competition, will have at least a week to work with many of their players to prepare for the London derby at Stamford Bridge the following Thursday night.
Twelve senior Spurs stars are currently on international duty in Son Heung-min (South Korea), Dominic Solanke (England), Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie (Italy), Cristian Romero (Argentina), Pedro Porro (Spain), Brennan Johnson and Ben Davies (Wales), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal), Yves Bissouma (Mali), Rodrigo Bentancur (Uruguay) and Lucas Bergvall (Sweden).
There are also first teamers with youth international call-ups in the shape of Archie Gray (England U21s), Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert (France U21s), Dane Scarlett (England U20s) and Mikey Moore (England U19s).
That only leaves a small group of players at Hotspur Way, with Micky van de Ven having only recently returned from his hamstring problems, Djed Spence and James Maddison missing out on a call into Thomas Tuchel's first England squad, and Timo Werner and Sergio Reguilon remain without international commitments. Goalkeepers Antonin Kinsky, Fraser Forster, Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman to round out the nine fit first team players left at Hotspur Way, who have all been given a few days off from Wednesday.
There are also four injured players at various stages of rehabilitation in Richarlison, Dejan Kulusevski, Kevin Danso and Radu Dragusin.
So when will the international players start returning to Hotspur Way next week to begin preparing with Postecoglou for the Chelsea game after a much-needed change of environment?
First up on Sunday, Pedro Porro faces his second game of the international break as Spain welcome the Netherlands in their UEFA Nations League quarter-final second leg and then Destiny Udogie and Guglielmo Vicario are away with Italy in their UEFA Nations League quarter-final second leg against Germany. That could mean all three players return to Hotspur Way on either Monday or Tuesday, or even Wednesday if Postecoglou gives them a day or two off.
On Monday, Yves Bissouma could be in action for Mali in their World Cup qualifier against Central African Republic in Morocco while Dominic Solanke could feature in England's home World Cup qualifier against Latvia. Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel are both in the squad for France Under-21s' away friendly against Slovakia, Archie Gray will be with England Under-21s for their home friendly against Portugal and Dane Scarlett will be with the on-loan Ashley Phillips as England Under-20s' Elite League Squad take on a friendly against Switzerland in Spain.
Tuesday brings a busy day of international football as Heung-Min Son joins the on-loan Yang Min-hyeok as South Korea face a home World Cup qualifier against Jordan, while Lucas Bergvall could come up against Jamie Donley as Sweden welcome Northern Ireland in a friendly.
Ben Davies and Brennan Johnson could feature as Wales play a World Cup qualifier in North Macedonia and Rodrigo Bentancur has a FIFA World Cup qualifier with Uruguay in Bolivia. Pape Matar Sarr could get game time as Senegal host Togo in their own World Cup qualifier and Mikey Moore has a European Under-19 Championship qualifier against Portugal in Wales with England Under-19s.
Later that night, with a 12am kick-off time in the UK, Cristian Romero face a big World Cup qualifier in Argentina against Brazil.
At the worst, barring any injuries, Postecoglou could have a full squad from Thursday or Friday onwards next week to begin training and preparing for the game against Chelsea, which is followed shortly after by a home game against Southampton in the Premier League.
Postecoglou falls into a trap, Pochettino's vow and the Bissouma problem - [click here](http:// https://tinyurl.com/rxkbx4nx) to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham
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