Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that Micky van de Ven will be unavailable for Saturday's Premier League London derby with Fulham, but Richarlison is pushing to make himself available.
Van de Ven had to be withdrawn just a few minutes into the second half of last weekend's 4-0 crushing of Aston Villa with a thigh injury, the same issue he sustained against Chelsea back in November.
The Dutchman's previous glitch sidelined him for several weeks, but the initial indications were that his new problem was not as severe, and he would likely only miss a couple of games at the most.
Speaking to reporters during Friday's press conference, Postecoglou confirmed that Van de Ven would sit out Saturday's game as expected, but there is hope that he can return when Spurs face Luton Town after the international break on March 30.
Furthermore, Richarlison is on track to make his comeback from a knee issue at Craven Cottage, having previously expressed hope that he would make the cut at Villa Park only to lose his race to be fit.
"Everyone else is sort of the same as last week. Micky, nothing too significant. He'll miss tomorrow. But we're quite confident if the recovery goes well with the international break, he shouldn't miss too much more," football.london quotes Postecoglou as saying.
"I think he came off at the right time to be honest. So while he misses tomorrow, it's still positive. Richy, he trained today so we'll just see how he pulls up. If he pulls up OK, he'll probably be available."
With Van de Ven sidelined this weekend, January signing Radu Dragusin will make his full Premier League debut alongside Cristian Romero, having been restricted to just four substitute outings in the English top flight since joining from Genoa.
Postecoglou opened up on his first conversation with Dragusin, who was told by the Tottenham boss that he could not offer guarantees over minutes due to Van de Ven and Romero's "outstanding" form, but he talked up the Romanian's self-belief and ability to win duels ahead of his first Premier League start.
"I'll take the suspense out of it - he'll start tomorrow. It's a good opportunity for him. We obviously brought him in with a view that it was evident we were very short in that area, and he'd had a very good half-season in Italy," Postecoglou added.
"He's had to be patient for his opportunity, which isn't surprising because Micky and Cristian have been outstanding for us. And with only a game a week, and sometimes not even that, he's had to be patient.
"And I said to him when we signed him I couldn't guarantee him... or I couldn't tell him when he'd get an opportunity but he would get an opportunity. I thought he did well when he came on the other day.
"It was good that the team was already in a good rhythm but the scoreline was still 0-0 at the time, He contributed to how we finished the game. He's a pretty assured young guy.
"He has belief in himself, he has really good people around him. I think he can bring something to the team. He's a very strong defender, very good in the duels, and I think we're going to need that tomorrow."
Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Fraser Forster (foot) and Manor Solomon (knee) make up the remainder of Tottenham's absentees, and Postecoglou has revealed that the medical team are now looking at new "strategies" for the latter, who is yet to make any progress since his second operation.
Victory for Tottenham at Craven Cottage will see them rise into the top four of the Premier League table over Aston Villa, who are only two points ahead having played a game more. body check tags ::
