Tottenham quartet available for Brentford clash as Postecoglou delivers Dragusin injury update

Rob McCarthy 31 Jan 2025 4:55 PM

Ange Postecoglou is still hanging on by a thread at Tottenham

Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that Radu Dragusin is highly unlikely to be involved for Tottenham’s weekend’s trip to Brentford, although four players should be available for the Premier League clash.

The Romanian centre-back has been a regular in the starting line-up since the end of October, playing in 24 straight matches, however he was forced off in the 3-0 Europa League win over Elfsborg after landing awkwardly and feeling discomfort in his knee.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference for the Bees clash on Friday afternoon, Postecoglou confirmed that Tottenham do not yet know the full extent of the injury and that the defender will need time to allow the issue to settle.

“We’ve got to let it settle down,” Postecoglou said. “We’ll get some more information over the weekend. He’s (unlikely to be) involved this weekend, at the moment. We’ll have to wait to see the extent of it.

“Hard to tell (the extent of the injury). It’s a knee (issue), (but we’ve) got to let it settle down. Always a concern when it’s a knee injury, but we have to wait and see”

Dragusin will almost certainly join Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero, James Maddison, Wilson Odobert, Timo Werner, Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke on the sidelines for the game at the Gtech Community Stadium.

However, three stars will be available to return for the game, with Antonin Kinsky, Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon all available after being ineligible to face Elfsborg.

Spence will almost certainly line up at left-back in the continued absence of Udogie, while Postecoglou will choose between Archie Gray and Ben Davies to see how partners Micky van de Ven at the heart of the Tottenham defence.

The Netherlands international returned for the first time in two months against Elfsborg, playing the opening 45 minutes before being withdrawn as a precaution and suffered no ill-effects from the game.

Van de Ven unlikely to play 90 minutes at Gtech

As for the chances of Van de Ven featuring for the full game at Brentford, Postecoglou admits that’s unlikely after his lengthy lay-off.

The Australian added, when asked about the Dutch defender playing against Thomas Frank’s side: “We’ll see, probably not 90, but only because it’s a short turnaround.

“He felt really good last night. It was great to have him out there. You know he’s a good player but you don’t realise how much of a good player he is until… I guess it’s the same with a lot of our players who have been missing for quite a while, it’s not just the impact they have individually, it’s the impact they have on the group.

“The whole group got a lift seeing him out there last night. Like I said, knock on wood, he got through it really well, felt good afterwards and we’ll give him some more game time, build up his minutes at the weekend.”

As for Romero’s expected return to action, Postecoglou added that one is taking a bit more time to get right, admitting: “[With Romero] it’s just a slow healer, looking at on a week-to-week basis. He’s been out a while, it’s just taking time.”