Tottenham Hotspur star Cristian Romero is back but Rodrigo Bentancur will miss Aston Villa tie, confirms Antonio Conte
Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has confirmed that Argentina international Cristian Romero is back and available for the clash against Aston Villa, but Rodrigo Bentancur isn’t.
Romero missed a big chunk of games before the World Cup break with a fitness issue but ended up playing every game for La Albiceleste in Qatar. He played in the final on 18 December against France.
Following Argentina’s win on penalty shootouts, there was always going to be extra time off handed to Romero to celebrate the victory in his homeland. Those processions have seemingly ended.
Conte has confirmed that Romero is back and available for selection after missing the team’s 2-2 draw against Brentford in their return to Premier League action. However, Bentancur is ruled out.
Big boost for Spurs
The Uruguay international was taken off after 34 minutes in his team’s group-stage win against Ghana at the World Cup. He has been recovering since, but he is supposedly in line to get an MRI to know more about the groin injury.
The former Inter Milan manager said at his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash against the Villans on Sunday (1 January) [h/t Football.London]:
“Romero is back and he’s available for the game against Aston Villa. From what I saw in last few days in training session, I have seen him with great focus and great desire to come back and play for us.”
“Rodrigo, I think we have to wait, maybe today he is going to have an MRI to try to have an evaluation about his injury. For sure tomorrow against Villa, he’s not available. He had an injury in the World Cup and also the timing is more long than my expectation.”
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It remains to be seen if Romero is ready to be thrown right into the action, although there is no reason why he shouldn’t be given the extended rest he has had. As for Bentancur, it seems like Yves Bissouma will have another chance to prove to Conte that he deserves more starts.
