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Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has had to deal with a lot of injury problems this season
Tottenham Hotspur and Rangers both return to Europa League action in a huge battle of Britain at Ibrox Stadium on Thursday night.
Ange Postecoglou, who returns to Glasgow for the first time since leaving Celtic, saw his team blow a 2-0 lead at home to London rivals Chelsea and lose 4-3 at the weekend in the Premier League and are now winless in their last four games. They gave up a lead twice in their last European clash with AS Roma, who held the North Londoners to a 2-2 draw.
Spurs have been dealing with several injury issues all season and their troubles compounded when both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven—starting for the first time after a month on the sidelines—were forced off with fresh injuries against Chelsea.
Romero is now set to miss six weeks with a quad problem, while Van de Ven seems to have endured a relapse to his hamstring issue. And with Ben Davies already ruled out, Tottenham are extremely short at the back heading into the most crucial phase of the season.
Ange Postecoglou faced the media on Wednesday ahead of the mouthwatering Europa League tie against Rangers in Scotland. The media slipped a question asking whether Archie Gray will play in central defence, or whether he will be a bit creative and use Yves Bissouma as a makeshift defender, to which the Tottenham boss replied (h/t Football London):
“Yeah (laughs), I have to get creative. I think Archie’s probably the one for us at the moment that we need to try and get to fill in there. He’s done right back, left back for us. Had to play at centre-back a little bit this year, he did during the pre-season. With him and Radu, they’re the two main sort of defenders. We’ve still got five or six games to navigate, so we may have to get creative at some point and deal with it in a different way.”
It is likely we see Archie Gray being paired with Radu Dragusin at the heart of the Tottenham defence over the next few weeks. The summer signing from Leeds United has operated across the backline barring his natural No.6 position, performing admirably well.
When Davies was forced off with a hamstring problem in the second half against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, it was Gray who replaced him in central defence having started the game at right-back. The Englishman’s versatility is indeed proving valuable to the Tottenham team at a time when Big Ange’s resources are stretched at the back.
It will be a challenge to negotiate the busy fixture schedule with limited options in defence, so we shouldn’t be surprised if our gaffer decides to become a bit creative and tries to find a solution with makeshift options.
The upcoming clash against Rangers is crucial for Tottenham as they aim to overcome recent challenges and improve their standing in the Europa League. Despite current difficulties, Big Ange remains hopeful that his team can rise above these hurdles and deliver strong performances in future matches.
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