Tottenham need to sign another centre back, says Ange Postecoglou

LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has called on the club to sign another centre back in January, following the injuries to Micky van de Ven, Eric Dier and Ashley Phillips.

The Australian was speaking ahead of his side’s English Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest in the only Friday night game, as he praised left-back Ben Davies for deputising in the heart of defence for the past five league games.

“I thought Ben Davies was outstanding. He’s getting a run of games. But we’ve got to be mindful he’s not a centre back and he’s growing into that role,” he said.

“Ben is still adapting to it. He’s done remarkably well. Centre back is a position where you need outstanding attributes and we’ve been very fortunate to have him that he’s been able to adapt there.

“He’s great at taking on information. He’s been helped by having (Cristian) Romero back. But we need to sign another centre back because, at the moment, we’re on tenterhooks in case something else happens there.”

Spurs bounced back from four defeats and a draw to beat Newcastle United 4-1 last weekend, while Forest drew 1-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers following four straight losses.

Postecoglou’s men are fifth in the standings on 30 points, while Steve Cooper’s side are 16th on 14 points, five clear of the relegation zone.

Before the victory over Newcastle, Tottenham had become the first team in the Premier League to score first in five consecutive league games but fail to win any of them.

They stopped the rot in the Magpies clash, although Joelinton’s late goal also meant that Spurs have now failed to keep a clean sheet in seven games.

The statistics would not matter much to Postecoglou, however, as long as his team maintain his attacking philosophy and carry on winning as they aim to secure at least a Champions League spot this season.

Should they beat Forest, they will be level on 33 points with Manchester City in fourth.

Besides the centre-back crisis, Spurs will also be without Giovani lo Celso, who suffered a knock in training.

Alfie Whiteman, Manor Solomon, Ivan Perisic, Ryan Sessegnon, James Maddison and Rodrigo Bentancur remain out.

Over in the Forest camp, Cooper will hope to take the positives from their draw with Wolves, having avoided a fifth successive defeat.

Their home form is not ideal, however, coming off the back of two losses to Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton. This came after an eight-game unbeaten streak at the City Ground between April and November.

Cooper is under pressure to deliver, and midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate has said that it is down to the players to fight for their manager’s future.

“It’s very, very hard, because every time we won they say this player, this player, and every time we lose it goes to the manager. This is the thing, the manager doesn’t come onto the field, the player does,” he said on Sky Sports.

“He’s like a big brother with us. Now we need to give it back on the field, all the players know that we’re going to fight for him because we love him and he loves us also.”

Cooper will have to deal with the absence of the injured Murillo, who joins Taiwo Awoniyi and Serge Aurier in the treatment room.