Ange Postecoglou reveals Tottenham attacking blow for Liverpool clash while key duo face fitness tests

Tottenham will need to assess the fitness of captain Son Heung-min and James Maddison before the visit of Liverpool on Saturday, although Brennan Johnson is sidelined.

The influential duo were forced off late in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Arsenal with minor muscle problems and have missed parts of training this week.

But Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou, speaking ahead of the tough clash against Jurgen Klopp’s in-form Reds, said: “From last week, Brennan (Johnson) will miss out. Nothing too serious, but he won’t play this week.

“Madders and Sonny trained today, they seemed to get through it OK, but we’ll see how they pull up because they were sore last week.”

Postecoglou also added that winger Bryan Gil is closing in on a return to action.

He added: “Yeah, like you’ve said he’s been a bit unfortunate in that pretty much since the start of pre-season he’s had a couple of injuries that haven’t allowed him to train with the team.

“He had a good year last year away from here and he certainly plays in a position where guys with his attributes can certainly fit into our structure.

“It’ll be good to see Bryan getting up to speed over the next couple of weeks, training with the team and then, obviously with Ivan going down, we’re one down in those wide areas so having him at the club is certainly beneficial.”

However, in terms of Rodrigo Bentancur’s return to action, Postecoglout admits nothing much has changed.

The Australian said: “Nah, nah. There’s no change. All Rodrigo is doing at the moment is warm-ups with the teams so he’s not doing it on his own, but he’s not participated in any sort of meaningful training yet.”

READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou to savagely sever ties with Tottenham star despite building necessary alliance