Tottenham are set to experiment at Villa Park after Dejan Kulusevski joined Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison on the treatment table.
Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham training (Ben Whitley/PA)open image in gallery
Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham training (Ben Whitley/PA) (PA Wire)
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Ange Postecoglou has hinted at wholesale changes for Tottenham’s trip to Aston Villa after he admitted they cannot afford to lose any more players before next week’s Europa League final.
Spurs travel to Villa Park rocked by Dejan Kulusevski becoming the latest key player to suffer an injury ahead of Wednesday’s showpiece in Bilbao against Manchester United.
Kulusevski sustained a right knee injury in Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace to join Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison on the treatment table.
Postecoglou decided to rest Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke after they sealed progression into the Europa League final.
While Postecoglou’s initial plan for the Villa match had been to get minutes into key personnel, Kulusevski’s injury looks set to change the mind of the 59-year-old.
He said: “Look, in a normal world you use this to be sharpening up but we’re not living in a normal world.
“That’s the reality of our existence at the moment where we can’t lose another player to an injury. It’s just too finely balanced for us considering what’s at stake.
“If it’s a muscle injury (for Kulusevski), then you question did we do the right thing, but it’s something he gets tackled 20 times a season and nothing happens.
“That seems to be our lot at the moment and even with the best planning, we’re still getting hit with these setbacks. From my perspective, I’ve got to take that into account when considering the game tomorrow night.”
With Kulusevski ruled out of next week’s final, Tottenham have a big creative void to fill, especially with Bergvall and Maddison sidelined.
Postecoglou is set to experiment at Villa Park. Wilson Odobert spent the latter part of Sunday’s defeat to Palace in the attacking midfielder role, while captain Son Heung-min or even right-back Pedro Porro are potential alternatives.
The Australian has partnered Pape Sarr, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield before, but appears set to try something new on Friday.
“Yeah, another challenge but that’s been a constant for us. We’ve always had to try to find creative ways to cover the absences we’ve had and we’ll find a way to do that again,” Postecoglou insisted.
“We can try a couple of things tomorrow night to see how they work and we’ve got to make our decisions from there.
“No I think it’s all in the realms (of possibility). When you’re in this position you go through all the different scenarios.
“A lot of it will depend on seeing how we get through tomorrow, see how people get through the game.
“There’s obviously a few players who will play tomorrow who haven’t played regularly or a lot lately who will get an opportunity.
“There could be a performance tomorrow that convinces me to go one way or another. You consider it all.
“At the same time, even if you do something radical, whether it’s a positional change, it’s always better done in the confines of having a real solid foundation there.”