Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison has been ruled out of Sunday's Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest due to a knee injury.
Since hitting a rich vein of form with nine goals in eight top-flight games from December 10 to February 3, the Brazilian's game time has been limited for club and country due to an issue with his knee.
After sitting out back-to-back Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, Richarlison was only a late substitute in a 3-0 loss to Fulham and did not earn any minutes for his country over the international break either.
The former Everton man is yet to regain his place in the Tottenham XI either, coming off the bench in the dying embers of last weekend's win over Luton Town and Wednesday's 1-1 draw with West Ham United.
Richarlison appeared to come through his latest cameo unscathed, but speaking to Tottenham's media channels on Friday, Postecoglou revealed that the South American would be given the weekend off to recover.
Richarlison expected to be fit for Newcastle United clash
However, Richarlison's absence from the Forest clash is not indicative of a long-term issue, and Postecoglou believes that the 26-year-old will be back to full fitness in time for next Saturday's showdown with Newcastle United.
"Not too bad, the only one from the other night is Richy. He's had a bit of a niggle in his knee so we'll probably give him this weekend off just to get totally over it. Hopefully he'll be ready for Newcastle next week, everybody else got through the game well," Postecoglou said.
With Richarlison back on the absentee list, Tottenham will be without the services of four players this weekend, as Manor Solomon (knee), Fraser Forster (foot) and Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) are still a while away from making their comebacks.
However, Postecoglou confirmed that former Nottingham Forest attacker Brennan Johnson - who opened the scoring against West Ham before being withdrawn due to a knock - is OK and raring to go for the reunion with his old employers.
The Wales international broke Spurs' six-game streak of scoreless first halves with his fifth-minute opener at the London Stadium on Tuesday, justifying his return to the first XI after making a massive impact off the bench against Luton Town a few days before.
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Since the start of 2024, no Tottenham player has contributed to more Premier League goals than Johnson, who has registered four of his own and three assists to post seven direct involvements.
A total of 12 goals and assists in the top flight is also the most by a single Welsh player since Gareth Bale posted 13 in 2020-21 during a loan spell back at Tottenham, but Postecoglou believes that there is still more to come from Johnson.
"He's found a bit of confidence and consistency and understanding of the way we play. We bought him very much as a young player with an eye of knowing that what he does this year, there's more in him," the Australian added in his pre-game press conference.
Spurs remain outside of the top four in the Premier League table heading into the weekend, although they sit just two points behind Aston Villa with a game in hand on Unai Emery's team. body check tags ::
