Tottenham Hotspur have no fresh injury problems ahead of their Premier League clash with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday (25 November), but remain without the services of Victor Wanyama and Toby Alderweireld.
Wanyama has not played since mid-August, with a troublesome knee injury keeping him on the sidelines. Reports of a return in October were quashed when Spurs sent the powerful midfielder to see a specialist and while Mauricio Pochettino has been pleased with his progress, the manager was unable to confirm if fans would see him on the pitch again before the end of the year.
Alderweireld is another player who may not return until 2018. The Spurs defender suffered a hamstring injury in the 3-1 win over Real Madrid in October, with it later emerging that the problem was worse than initially feared.
In a latest update on the pair, Tottenham confirmed that both Wanyama and Alderweireld are continuing their rehabilitation from those respective injuries, but did not elaborate on a timetable for their returns.
Spurs have become accustomed to managing long-term injuries with both Danny Rose and Erik Lamela recently sidelined for significant periods of time – with the latter still to return to first-team action after a lay-off than has now passed the one-year mark.
Rose has been carefully reintegrated into the first team after returning from a knee injury, with Pochettino pulling him out of the squad for last Saturday's north London derby against Arsenal for fitness reasons before bringing him back in for the win over Borussia Dortmund in mid-week.
Pochettino believes his own approach to bringing players back in is paying off and plans to use a use a similar tactic when Wanyama and Alderweireld are ready.
"We have ahead of us a lot of games, it is impossible to cope always playing with the same starting XI, they are not machines," Pochettino said after the win in Dortmund. "But it is fantastic, we are now focusing on Lamela, Wanyama and Toby, to try be available as soon as possible and to try and help the team because we have ahead a lot of games.
"But I am happy because the squad is good, the mentality is perfect and the reaction after Saturday was perfect."
Wanyama has not played since mid-August, with a troublesome knee injury keeping him on the sidelines. Reports of a return in October were quashed when Spurs sent the powerful midfielder to see a specialist and while Mauricio Pochettino has been pleased with his progress, the manager was unable to confirm if fans would see him on the pitch again before the end of the year.
Alderweireld is another player who may not return until 2018. The Spurs defender suffered a hamstring injury in the 3-1 win over Real Madrid in October, with it later emerging that the problem was worse than initially feared.
In a latest update on the pair, Tottenham confirmed that both Wanyama and Alderweireld are continuing their rehabilitation from those respective injuries, but did not elaborate on a timetable for their returns.
Spurs have become accustomed to managing long-term injuries with both Danny Rose and Erik Lamela recently sidelined for significant periods of time – with the latter still to return to first-team action after a lay-off than has now passed the one-year mark.
Rose has been carefully reintegrated into the first team after returning from a knee injury, with Pochettino pulling him out of the squad for last Saturday's north London derby against Arsenal for fitness reasons before bringing him back in for the win over Borussia Dortmund in mid-week.
Pochettino believes his own approach to bringing players back in is paying off and plans to use a use a similar tactic when Wanyama and Alderweireld are ready.
"We have ahead of us a lot of games, it is impossible to cope always playing with the same starting XI, they are not machines," Pochettino said after the win in Dortmund. "But it is fantastic, we are now focusing on Lamela, Wanyama and Toby, to try be available as soon as possible and to try and help the team because we have ahead a lot of games.
"But I am happy because the squad is good, the mentality is perfect and the reaction after Saturday was perfect."
Victor Wanyama and Toby Alderweireld no closer to Tottenham returns ahead of West Brom clash
Reviewed by soccer247
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November 23, 2017
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