Tottenham’s injury problems have deepened ahead of Sunday’s clash with Wolves
Tottenham Hotspur’s up-and-down season continued on Boxing Day when they lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest at City Ground. Anthony Elanga’s 28th-minute strike turned out to be the difference in the end, handing Ange Postecoglou and Co. their ninth defeat in the Premier League.
One cannot deny that injuries to several players have been one of the mitigating factors behind the North London outfit’s underwhelming displays. Ange Postecoglou has been dealing with an unprecedented injury crisis at White Hart Lane, and against Nottingham Forest, he suffered another blow.
Radu Dragusin hurt his ankle and had to come off in the 87th minute, making him a big doubt for the upcoming game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. In his pre-match press conference, Ange Postecoglou also confirmed that Ben Davies will remain unavailable for Tottenham against Wolves on Sunday.
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Ben Davies picked up a hamstring injury in the second half of Spurs’ 1-0 away defeat to Bournemouth at the start of December. As a result, he has had to miss games against Chelsea, Rangers, Southampton, Manchester United, Liverpool and Forest.
The Tottenham boss had stated before the game at Forest that the Welsh defender had returned to training and would be in contention to face Wolves. However, the 31-year-old has now suffered a setback in training and will be sidelined for the next couple of weeks.
“No, he’s ruled out. Unfortunately, he had a setback in training and he’s probably out for another couple of weeks. So yeah, he’s gone,” Postecoglou said about Davies. (h/t Football London)
Big Ange and Spurs have suffered three big blows in just one day. Djed Spence picked up two yellow cards in the defeat to Forest and will serve a one-game suspension, while Dragusin was forced off in the second half of the game with a muscle problem. Davies was on the comeback trail but has now suffered a setback in training, ruling him out for another couple of weeks.
This would potentially see Tottenham enter the game against Wolves with no natural central defenders in the squad. Archie Gray appears certain to start in a makeshift role, but it will be interesting to see who starts alongside the teenager.
Destiny Udogie could be an option to play as a left-sided centre-back but that would leave the left-back position vacant, with Pedro Porro poised to replace the suspended Spence at right-back.
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Big Ange will certainly have to be creative with his team selection on Sunday. Yves Bissouma came on to replace Dragusin against Forest, so we might see the Malian operate alongside Gray. Or else, we won’t be surprised if our gaffer decides to throw academy kid Alfie Dorrington at the deep end vs Wolves.