Tottenham gear themselves up for a stiff challenge at home vs. Newcastle United.
Tottenham Hotspur are back in Premier League action against Newcastle United on Tuesday evening, hoping for their first victory in the top flight since December.
Thomas Frank praised his team after a battling 2-2 draw with Manchester City last weekend, but six days later, he saw his team disentangle once again after Cristian Romero was sent off against Manchester United. It turned out to be another forgettable day in the office for Thomas Frank’s side, who were beaten 2-0 by Manchester United via goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes.
Losing Romero for four games is a massive blow for the Lilywhites. However, the Argentine defender’s red card wasn’t the only problem Spurs embraced against Man United, as another defensive injury rocked the squad.
Thomas Frank gives the latest fitness update on his Tottenham squad ahead of facing Newcastle United
Destiny Udogie, who only recently returned from a hamstring injury, lasted just 55 minutes at Old Trafford before going down to receive treatment. He was forced off the pitch, with January signing Souza making his Premier League bow.
Addressing the media in his press conference, Frank provided a fitness update on his Tottenham squad, revealing a few good news and bad news in a rather mixed update. He gave a grim update on Udogie’s injury, whilst revealing info on Kevin Danso and Djed Spence after the duo had missed the last two league games.
“Unfortunately, Destiny has a hamstring injury, he will be out for 4-5 weeks,” Frank was quoted by Football London.
“Djed Spence is back. Kevin Danso will be weeks. Kevin [Danso] is with a medical consultant. It is going forward, but still weeks before he is available.”
Udogie is a good player, but he is also becoming more and more of a liability due to his persistent hamstring issues, and with Tottenham potentially in a genuine relegation battle, they can’t afford to have injury-prone players as starters. The Italian had just started to get back into rhythm, and with Romero and Danso set to miss the upcoming games, it’s clear that the Danish tactician can ill afford any more defensive injuries.
The slight positive is that Spence is back after missing games against the Manchester clubs. The full-back has been among the rare bright spots in an otherwise torrid campaign. It will be interesting to see whether Frank directly throws the fit-again Spence into his starting XI, or hands Souza a full Premier League debut against Newcastle.