Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven has recovered from his hamstring injury
Amidst an unprecedented injury crisis, Tottenham Hotspur have received a boost ahead of their Europa League game against IF Elfsborg.
Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has recovered from his hamstring injury and returned back to training earlier this week. The Dutch centre-back, sidelined since early December due to a hamstring injury sustained in the 4-3 home loss to Chelsea, was seen running and defending during drills on Wednesday afternoon. The 23-year-old’s appearance against Chelsea was his first in five weeks following a hamstring strain.
Ahead of the final Europa League group-stage fixture, Ange Postecoglou gave a positive injury update on Micky van de Ven. He confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the central defender should be fit to feature on Thursday night against Swedish side Elfsborg for the first time since early December.
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“Micky is good. He is good to go and we will try to get him some match minutes tomorrow. That’s the plan. Let’s see how much we can get out of him tomorrow. He has a good week/10 days training with the team and is in good condition so he is fine,” Ange Postecoglou told Football London.
Van de Ven’s injury coincided with the absence of his centre-back partner Cristian Romero, another crucial figure in Tottenham’s defensive setup. Romero, like Van de Ven, has been out of action since December, leaving Postecoglou without his first-choice centre-backs for nearly two months.
The duo’s absence has been massively felt as in the eight Premier League fixtures played since Van de Ven and Romero were sidelined, Big Ange’s side have managed just one victory—a 5-0 away thrashing of basement boys Southampton in mid-December.
Big Ange has revealed his plans of re-integrating Van de Ven into his side by giving him some minutes against Elfsborg on Thursday evening. By the looks of it, the Netherlands international should get some minutes under his tank late in the second half to help him get back match sharpness and rhythm.
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As far as other injury updates go, James Maddison will be absent for two to three weeks with a calf injury, but Yves Bissouma trained on Wednesday and will be available alongside Pape Matar Sarr. Richarlison also featured in training after he was forced off during the 2-1 defeat to Leicester City on Sunday with a groin complaint, thus, easing fears among the fanbase over another injury setback.
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While Van de Ven will return against Elfsborg and hopefully get some minutes, Romero was described as a “slow burner” by the Spurs gaffer amid an expectation he could be back for Sunday’s trip across the capital to Brentford in the Premier League.