Ange Postecoglou said he had no problem with James Maddison attending the World Darts Championship on the evening of Tottenham’s 2-2 draw against Wolves having been taken out of the team because of illness
Ange Postecoglou has revealed that James Maddison was too unwell to start last Sunday’s draw against Wolves because of sickness.
The England international, who came off the bench, was at the world championship darts that night – and replied “shut up” in a social media reply to a fan critical of his attendance following a disappointing 2-2 draw.
And while Postecoglou said he had no issue with Maddison turning up at Alexandra Palace, the attacking midfielder is still not back to top shape after being given a couple of days off.
“He was due to play last week but he was sick so I had to change the team on the day and leave him on the bench. He was ill on the day,” Postecoglou said.
He added: “I’ve got no problem with the players having lives. It’s a lot different trying to play a game of football and living a life.
“I don’t see any problem with that and I don’t think it hurt him. He wasn’t 100 per cent and it was a game where we needed someone to be 100 per cent.
“If he was bed-ridden, didn’t turn up to the game and then still went to the darts, there may be an issue there. But I had no issue with that.”
Maddison, alongside the rest of the Spurs squad, were given a couple of days off at the start of this week to refresh.
Asked how Maddison is feeling now, Postecoglou said: “He’s better. He’s trained. He’s still sort of… it was good to give him a couple of days away from training and everything. He trained.”
But Postecoglou remains without eight players through injury and Rodrigo Bentancur is banned for Saturday’s visit of Newcastle United to north London.
And to compound matters a number of Spurs’ squad has been laid low by a virus that has left Postecoglou concerned about the availability of “a few” players.
Spurs have won just three of their past 13 games in all competitions since the injury crisis took hold. Destiny Udogie is the latest to join the list of absentees having hurt a hamstring against Wolves. He is expected to be out for six weeks.
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