James Maddison was missing for Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with West Ham and the midfielder is a serious doubt for Thursday’s huge Europa League semi-final second leg against Bodo/Glimt
Ange Postecoglou has revealed that crocked Tottenham star James Maddison’s injury could be worse than first feared. Maddison missed Sunday’s draw at West Ham after going for a scan on a knee injury.
Now he looks set to miss Thursday’s big Europa League semi-final second leg against Bodo/Glimt as well. Spurs boss Postecoglou said: “It doesn’t look great. Just waiting for further information. Hopefully we’ll get more clarity tomorrow but it’s fair to say it’s not looking promising.”
Postecoglou also said some of his fringe players showed him against West Ham they were ready if needed. He said: “The beauty of today was a lot of guys got meaningful minutes. I think they showed they will be ready for Thursday.
“If we have to make a decision that means one of them starts I’ll be more than comfortable doing that. I’m proud of the players. It’s not easy, making so many changes.
“It’s going to affect fluency and rhythm. Some of the players haven’t played a lot regularly. Their efforts were outstanding. I’m glad they got some reward.”
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There was a boost on the fitness front, however, as 17-year-old Mikey Moore made his first appearance since February. “He’s been working hard in training,” Postecoglou explained. “Mikey hasn’t had a lot of opportunities, but good to get him some minutes today to keep him ticking along.”
Yves Bissouma also made progress with his second successive 90 minutes. “His season has probably reflected everyone else’s, the whole group,” his boss said.
“I don’t think disruptions have helped Biss, either. At the same time, they have to take responsibility for their own performances. He was ready for Thursday, and I thought he was outstanding, again today, he hasn’t played a lot, but he’s backed it up with 90 minutes.
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“He was the one I thought I could risk in terms of minutes out there because he’s a strong guy, resilient, I thought he led that midfield well. Super pleased for Pape [Matar Sarr] and Deki [Dejan Kulusevski], as well, as they haven’t played a lot recently, so getting through a strong, 90, 95 minutes is important.”
On making changes to his line-up, Postecoglou added: “I thought that was important, obviously we rested a few, but we also got some minutes into the guys where a lot of them haven’t played a lot recently like Archie [Gray], Deki’s missed a lot of football, Wilson [Odobert], Matty (Mathys Tel), Pape, Djed [Spence], Kevin [Danso], all these guys.
“It’s important, as we saw last week, losing Lucas [Bergvall] on the eve of the game ( against Bodo/Glimt) and Biss came in, you need the guys ready. Thankfully, they all came through unscathed and that sets us up well for Thursday.”
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