Postecoglou gives encouraging timeframe on Van de Ven Tottenham return; key star back for Fulham

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has given an update on Micky van de Ven’s expected return to action, while also backing Radu Dragusin to grasp his opportunity against Fulham on Saturday.

Dutch centre-back Van de Ven has been ruled out of the game at Craven Cottage after suffering a minor hamstring injury during the 4-0 thumping of Aston Villa last weekend.

Van de Ven’s absence will hand January signing Dragusin his first start since making his switch from Serie A side Genoa.

And Postecoglou is more than confident that the Romania international will rise to the occasion, having impressed in the second half of Tottenham‘s victory at Villa Park.

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“I’ll take the suspense out of it. He’ll start tomorrow,” Postecoglou said when speaking about Dragusin.

“It’s a good opportunity for him. We obviously brought him in with a view that it was evident we were very short in that area and he’d had a very good half-season in Italy.

“He’s had to be patient and I said to him when we signed him I couldn’t tell him when he’d get an opportunity but he would get an opportunity.

“I thought he did well when he came on the other day (against Aston Villa). It was good that the team was already in a good rhythm but the scoreline was still 0-0.

“He contributed to how we finished the game. He’s a pretty assured young guy. He has belief in himself, he has really good people around him.

“I think he can bring something to the team. He’s a very strong defender, very good in the duels and I think we’re going to need that tomorrow.

“More than anything that half-an-hour at least gives him that game-time he needs at the level.

“He was exposed to a very good team and some very good opposition players. I think that will help him tomorrow, particularly at the beginning of the game.”

Van de Ven not facing lengthy break

The good news on Van de Ven is that he should be back after the upcoming international break.

Postecoglou added: “Micky, nothing too significant. He’ll miss tomorrow, but we’re quite confident if the recovery goes well with the international break, he shouldn’t miss too much more.

“I think he came off at the right time to be honest, so while he misses tomorrow, it’s still positive.”

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One player who should return against Fulham is striker Richarlison, who is back in training after a knee injury, with Postecoglou adding: “Richy, he trained today so we’ll just see how he pulls up. If he pulls up OK, he’ll probably be available.”

Manor Solomon, meanwhile, is no closer to a return to action and will definitely miss the clash against his old club.

Postecoglou added: “Yeah, no real progress. He’s still in that position of not being really comfortable where he’s at.

“So, we’ll give him the time he needs to be in the palace where he can recover. The medical team is looking at some other strategies now.”