Threadbare Tottenham Hotspur forced to use injured Radu Dragusin, says Ange Postecoglou
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Radu Dragusin of Tottenham Hotspur trying to defend against Wolverhampton Wanderers' Hwang Hee-Chan at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur’s injury crisis meant Ange Postecoglou was forced to field Radu Dragusin against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Dec 29, despite him struggling with an ankle knock.
Speaking after his side’s 2-2 English Premier League draw, Postecoglou painted a grim picture of the club’s plight, with left-back Destiny Udogie the latest casualty.
“Well, we had no choice,” the Spurs manager told reporters. “If Radu doesn’t play, I don’t know who plays. He wasn’t 100 per cent, but he felt he could get through with his ankle.”
Dragusin, who suffered an injury against Nottingham Forest on Dec 26, is the only available centre-back at the club, with Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Ben Davies all injured and still weeks away from a return.
“There’s no choice, but it’s not a risk,” said Postecoglou, whose side are in 11th place. “I mean, it’s a judgment call. It’s not like it’s a muscle injury, it’s a knock on his ankle. But yeah, we’re making decisions.
“We’ve got no choice, unless I throw another 18- or 17-year-old out there. That’s the only fit players we have.”
Tottenham are also missing the likes of striker Richarlison, winger Wilson Odobert and first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
They will also be without midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur for their Jan 4 home clash with Newcastle United, after he picked up a fifth booking of the season to trigger a one-game ban.
Udogie also went off in the 50th minute with a muscular injury, adding to Postecoglou’s woes.
“I think it was a hamstring,” Postecoglou said.
“Again, we’ve been relying on a core group of players because we just haven’t had the ability to rotate, so at some point, it was going to catch up with us. Unfortunately, it caught up with Destiny.”
Tottenham have won only once in their last seven Premier League games and will finish a year lower than seventh for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
They conceded early against Wolves when Hwang Hee-chan scored after seven minutes – the 15th time they have fallen behind at home in a Premier League game in 2024. But goals by Bentancur and Brennan Johnson got them ahead by half-time, only for substitute Jorgen Strand Larsen’s late effort to deny them a much-needed win.
“It’s a disappointing outcome,” Postecoglou said. “Obviously, we went a goal down but after that I felt we controlled the game. It wasn’t easy always to get openings but we did look pretty threatening every time we did get forward.”
While Tottenham flounder, Forest continued their remarkable season by moving up to second after a 2-0 win over Everton, ahead of the Dec 30 round of fixtures. They had battled against relegation for most of last season.
Their smash-and-grab win at Goodison Park on Dec 29 was based on a speedy attack and a rock-solid defence, with Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White grabbing the goals.
For Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo, the game plan worked perfectly as his side took their chances before shutting up shop.
“We were organised and really committed to help each other. We then exploited well the space Everton gave,” the Portuguese coach told the BBC.
“It is confidence, the belief and the knowledge that, in the final third, you need composure. They scored beautiful goals.” REUTERS