Tottenham Hotspur rocked by 8-man crisis and illness bug before Newcastle United clash
Ange Postecoglou has confirmed Tottenham Hotspur are walking wounded ahead of Newcastle United’s trip to North London.
As well as an eight-man injury list and Rodrigo Bentancur suspended, Spurs have been rocked with an illness bug in midweek. Stars like Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie and Richarlison are all sidelined.
Postecoglou was already up against it, with Newcastle one of the Premier League’s in-form sides. Eddie Howe’s men are aiming for their sixth consecutive win across all competitions when they head to the capital tomorrow.
As for Tottenham, however, they are desperate for three points after slipping to 11th in the table. The pressure is beginning to ramp up on Postecoglou for a perceived naivety from the dugout.
His ultra-attacking style has come under fire but the 59-year-old is vowing to fight on. Newcastle appear to have Spurs on the ropes before a ball is kicked following Postecoglou’s injury update.
A bout of flu has wiped out the Londoners - with no saving grace coming from the treatment table. As well as those mentioned, Ben Davies and Wilson Odobert are ruled out.
“Destiny (injured) his hamstring,” Postecoglou told reporters. “(It) looks (like it will be) around six weeks for him. We lose (Rodrigo) Bentancur suspended. None of the injured ones are back yet. We've had a bit of an illness bug with a few not training.
“At this stage, Richy (Richarlison) and Mikey Moore are the next cabs off the rank, we're hoping next week. Ben (Davies), Micky (Van de Ven) and (Cristian) Romero all kind of around the same time, (they will return at) the back end of January.”