Ange Postecoglou confirms triple fitness boost for Spurs before Brighton clash
Ange Postecoglou has confirmed a triple boost for Tottenham ahead of tomorrow’s meeting against Brighton - with captain Son Heung-min and Yves Bissouma returning from international duty and midfielder Giovanni Lo Celso in contention following injury.
Skipper Son was gutted when South Korea lost their Asian Cup semi-final to Jordan on Tuesday, while Bissouma’s Mali were beaten by hosts Ivory Coast in the quarter-final of the Africa Cup of Nations last Saturday.
But both have trained since returning to Spurs in the middle of the week, while Lo Celso has been on the grass all week.
Postecoglou said: “Sonny got back on Wednesday, recovered Thursday and trained today. Biss obviously joined this week, Lo Celso trained this week. The only ones still out are [winger Manor] Solomon and [wing back Ryan] Sessegnon at this stage. It's the healthiest squad we've had for a while”
Asked to clarify if that means they are available to face Albion, the head coach added: “Definitely Sonny and Biss, they have trained well. Gio has trained all week but missed a fair bit of football we’ll see how he is.”
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Postecoglou said Son was “very disappointed with South Korea’s exit”, adding: “After getting to the semi-final stage it felt so close but he gave everything for his nation and didn’t leave anyone questioning his commitment.
“He was spent by the end of it. I spoke to him not long after but he was keen to come back. It’s great to have him back and it didn’t surprise me he wanted to train straight away and be available.
Son Heung-min's South Korea lost to Jordan in the AFC Asian Cup semi-finals.Postecoglou said that Bissouma was not suffering from malaria despite claims from the Mali camp that he was ill. “That’s not right,” he said. “He had a slight form of malaria before the tournament started but had recovered.”
Meanwhile, Israel winger Solomon has had a minor procedure on the knee injury that has kept him out since early autumn. “Nothing major but he still has a problem so we’ll give him two or three weeks [before reevaluating],” Postecoglou added.
Brighton won the reverse fixture on the south coast 4-2 six weeks ago but their head coach Roberto De Zerbi will serve a touchline ban after receiving three yellow cards.
But Postecoglou does not think too much will be different in terms of Albion’s approach.
“I know results have not been great but the identity they have doesn’t change,” he said. “That’s why they are such a challenging opponent. Irrespective of their football, we want to be brave.”
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