Son Heung-min, Cristian Romero available for Tottenham after international break
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Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min celebrates scoring against Liverpool in a match in September 2023.
REUTERS
LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur are the last Premier League title contenders to play on Matchweek 9, and manager Ange Postecoglou was glad for the extra rest before they host Fulham on Monday.
The Australian confirmed that Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min have returned from international duty fit to face the Cottagers, adding that all those coming back are ready to play.
There had been concerns that Argentina centre-back Romero and South Korea forward Son had picked up knocks playing for their countries but both are expected to be available.
“It’s been a pretty positive international break for us,” Postecoglou said. “Everyone is kind of back and medical reports seem to be good so no real issues around the guys from a fitness perspective.”
The Spurs manager was also happy to see fullback Destiny Udogie making his debut for Italy and central defender Micky van de Ven playing his first games for the Netherlands.
More crucially, the two-week break has been a chance for some of the injured players to recover, such as wingers Brennan Johnson and Bryan Gil.
“With Brennan, he’s had a good, solid couple of weeks of training which is good for him,” added Postecoglou. “Playing Monday night helps us in terms of that aspect, with Brennan we’ll see how he goes in the next couple of days.”
Midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has yet to play this season due to a knee injury and the manager is not going to rush things, saying that he will not be in the squad on Monday.
Tottenham are still unbeaten in the league, alongside rivals Arsenal, but Postecoglou, who joined in June, is staying cautious.
“It doesn’t change the way I’m thinking. It pains me to say we’re very much still in the beginning,” he said. “My thought is continual development. Everything is in the early stages. If you get sidetracked and move away from the plans, you’re going to stumble.”
Tottenham went top with a 1-0 win at Luton Town in their last game but midfield dynamo Yves Bissouma received a red card and is suspended for the visit of Fulham.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is expected to be drafted into the Spurs line-up and Postecoglou praised the Dane’s resillience. He said: “He has been very important in a lot of the games that we’ve won late or had to shore up late.”
The weekend has seen movement at the top. Liverpool moved to the summit before Manchester City regained top spot. Arsenal also had their chance, but the Gunners remained in second following a 2-2 draw with Chelsea. Spurs are in fourth, one point behind City.
Fulham boss Marco Silva is expecting a tough match. “It’s going to be a great challenge for us,” he said. “It’s going to demand really hard work from ourselves but we have the belief and the courage to play our way.” REUTERS
