Tottenham Hotspur defender Matt Doherty in contention for the Carabao Cup fixture against Burnley
In a conversation with the official Spurs site, Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo has revealed that Matt Doherty is back in contention to feature in the Carabao Cup Cup tie against Burnley.
The 29-year-old right-back suffered an injury back in the Republic of Ireland’s victory against Qatar on 13th October. The defender hasn’t featured in a Spurs jersey since that incident. New arrival Emerson Royal has taken his place but is still trying to adapt to his role at the North London club.
Doherty was an important part of the defensive setup at Wolverhampton Wanderers and he brings a sense of maturity and experience along with him. The Irish player’s return will come as a relief to a Spurs side struggling to achieve some consistency.
The Portuguese manager gave updates on Matt Doherty. He also emphasised the need to be patient and integrate him into the squad accordingly.
“He’s back in the group, that’s good news. He’s going to be in the squad, but it’s up to us to decide the right moment to integrate all the players. The only bad news that we have at this moment is Ryan Sessegnon – he’s not able to join us yet.”
The 47-year-old manager has had an indifferent start to life. He initially propelled the club to the top of the Premier League table after 3 matches in the season but has endured some tough losses ever since then. The Lilywhites also lost their last match against West Ham United and will be looking to bounce back after that disappointing performance.
When asked whether he would choose the same squad that started against the Hammers, the Portuguese commented with a bit of ambiguity. But then who can blame him for playing his cards close to his chest.
“Basically yes, but we have players that we need, players that are working hard, maybe with the expectation that they will have more minutes, the expectation that they deserve more minutes”
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Nuno will face a conundrum of choosing the apt squad after some tepid displays against SBV Vitesse and West Ham. With a hectic schedule on the cards, Matt Doherty’s availability is a great thing as it could add some much-needed experience in that backline.
