Antonio Conte confirms Cristian Romero is ruled out for Tottenham Hotspur vs Burnley
Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has revealed that Cristian Romero will miss out on the match against Burnley tomorrow. The Premier League fixture will be hosted by his side as they look to get all three points to help with their pursuit to finish in the top four places.
Romero was out of contention in the 3-0 victory over Arsenal as well, having suffered a blow to his hip during the 1-1 draw against Liverpool. Conte was not optimistic when it came to getting his star player back before the end of this season, and the sentiment has remained the same this time around as well.
Speaking in an interview with Spurs TV (h/t Tottenham Hotspur official website), the Tottenham boss has expressed that the 24-year-old defender is trying his best to feature against Norwich City. But the coach is doubtful whether Romero would even return by that point.
“The situation is the same as before the game against Arsenal – Cuti is trying in his mind to recover for the last game against Norwich but honestly, we don’t know (if he will be available). For sure, for the game against Burnley, he’s not available.”
Spurs should take caution
Davinson Sanchez was the one who replaced Romero against the Gunners, and the former had impressed with flying colours despite being out from the starting lineup for quite some time. The 52-year-old manager has praised Sanchez for that display and expects him to do the same on Sunday.
“I was very happy for Davinson Sanchez’s performance (against Arsenal). We trust in him, we trust in the team, now we have good confidence and belief and we have to put this onto the pitch on Sunday together with our fans.”
When it was initially revealed that Romero had been injured in the build-up to the North London derby, the fans were concerned with their Champions League hopes on the line. Fortunately, Sanchez had stepped up to the plate and helped us get through the challenge.
That being said, Romero’s absence was certainly felt against Mikel Arteta’s side, especially before Rob Holding was red-carded, which gave us an easy outing for the rest of the game. We had struggled to progress the ball from the back under pressure which is something that does concern the supporters for tomorrow.
Conte must address that issue and perhaps use Eric Dier to build the play from the back as he is more adept at doing that task compared to Sanchez or Ben Davies, who will probably start the fixture. As for Romero’s case, we must not rush him in any case, even though the season is going to end.
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Even if that is the case, ideally, we would want Romero not to suffer any kind of relapse. If Sanchez performs well once again tomorrow, there is no reason for us to rush the Argentine superstar back for the clash against Norwich.
While Joe Rodon remains our only other centre-back option, perhaps it is time for some academy stars to step up and train with the first team rather than making things worse by rushing Romero from the setback.
