Ange Postecoglou was once again full of praise for his players after last night's win at TSG Hoffenheim, with 14 senior players unavailable in what was their fifteenth game in 54 days across four different competitions.
"It's about the players. It is getting increasingly difficult for them to maintain performance for sure as they're giving everything and it's a small group."
Whilst Tottenham Hotspur are set to see several players return in the next couple of weeks, The Lilywhites' boss remained reserved in his thoughts about the injury crisis easing up rapidly.
"We should have some light at the end of the tunnel the next couple of weeks. It's not as dire as...but at the same time there's always the possibility that before those guys come back, the load we're putting on these guys we might lose a couple of these. That's always the challenging bit and that's what we're going through. It has been two months of hard grind for the players and, as I keep saying, just trying to support them as much as we can and help them through it.
"We're working awfully hard, not just on game time, but in between games to recover and give us the best chance of putting in the performances that are needed at this level."
"Obviously. our schedule is not going to ease up at all and we've got a massive game this week and a massive week coming in a couple of weeks' time, but at the same time the resilience and determination of players to get out there and perform is a fantastic thing for me to witness and I couldn't be prouder of them."
The Australian has reiterated time after time that he is proud of the players' commitment to the cause, with so few available through what is their busiest time of the season. Whilst results may not have been what they wanted, with just one win in their last ten Premier League games, there can be no bad words on the effort the thin squad have applied.
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Team news
The injury woes continue to worsen for Ange Postecoglou, with Djed Spence now labelled a doubt for the game with Leicester City on Sunday, after picking up a knock in the 3-2 defeat to Everton last weekend.
Spence, who has undergone a resurgence since his first-ever start for the club in the 5-0 win at Southampton in December, has started in eight of Spurs' last eleven fixtures in all competitions but was unable to play on Thursday night as he is not registered in the UEFA Europa League squad.
Elsewhere, Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma, who both missed the victory over TSG Hoffenheim due to a knock and hamstring strain respectively, remain in doubt for the weekend.
Vice-captain Cristian Romero returned to training on Wednesday morning, but Postecoglou stated that he would not be fit enough to return to the squad for the visit of The Foxes to N17, further dampening the hope that the workload on Radu Dragusin, who has started thirteen games since the beginning of December, could be eased.
"Obviously we haven't been training a lot and because the other day was sort of low tempo session, it was just good to get him involved, not just for him but the players involved because they need a bit of help and encouragement and Cuti training with them gives them a big lift. It's good to see the players as he's joined in training the last couple of days but he's still got a bit of work to do."
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Richarlison's return
One positive in the last couple of weeks has been the return of Richarlison to the squad. The Brazilian came off the bench in the losses at the Emirates Stadium and Goodison Park, before starting just his second game of the season, and first since October, in Germany on Thursday.
Having had such terrible injury struggles in 2024, Ange Postecoglou opted to ease the former Everton man back into action, giving him two weeks of training before adding him back to the match-day squad, allowing him to get back up to speed with the demands of top-flight football.
On his fitness, his manager had this to say.
"As fit as he could possibly be. We are obviously managing his minutes at the moment. He got through it last night. He hasn’t played for a long time so he is not going to be his sharpest. We have still got to manage that. The reality is, unless something changes, he has to play."
Richarlison scored from the bench to give Spurs a chance of producing an unlikely comeback in their previous Premier League outing and did his best to help the rest of the fatigued team in the opening 55 minutes against Hoffenheim, but he will have to be prepared to go again on Sunday, being the only fit senior striker available.
The Copa America winner scored eleven goals during the 2023/24 campaign and was a major contributing factor in a crucial run of fixtures around the Christmas period in 2023, where he hit the back of the net nine times in eight games. However, a knee injury derailed his season and he only started two games after February.
Tottenham will need to continue to manage the Brazilian's minutes and hope that he can stay fit as they are set for a lengthy period of time without £65m summer signing Dominic Solanke.
