Tottenham suffer ‘huge blow’ as Micky van de Ven injury update emerges from Ange Postecoglou
Tottenham have suffered a “huge blow” to their top-four hopes this season after Micky van de Ven appeared to pick up a new hamstring injury against Aston Villa, according to Alan Hutton.
Ange Postecoglou’s side boosted their chances of Champions League qualification this season with an excellent 4-0 win at Villa Park but encountered a new problem as Van de Ven was forced off after 49 minutes having held his hamstring earlier in the contest.
The Spurs boss has told Sky Sports News (13 March) that the Dutchman’s injury is not serious but has confirmed that he expects the 22-year-old to miss the Premier League clash with Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday (16 March).
While Hutton admits Van de Ven’s absence may harm Spurs’ chances, he thinks that Postecoglou was always risking him picking up a new injury by leaving him isolated against both Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey in the first half.
“It’s a huge blow,” Hutton told Tottenham News.
“You saw how Villa set up, they actually changed their formation to try and counter what Tottenham were doing but they couldn’t deal with it. Villa tried to play the ball forwards and leave a two-on-two but Van de Ven’s pace is incredible.
“For such a big guy, a centre-half, you just don’t expect him to have it. That being said, you’re putting a lot of pressure on his body, he’s had hamstring injuries before and you’re asking him to do a lot of hard yards at top pace, so these things could happen.
“As we saw, he sprinted a lot and Bailey and Watkins gave him problems in behind, but his pace got him back in.
“You’re always going to have that threat of muscle injuries when you’re asking centre-halves to do that much running and unfortunately, that’s what has happened.”
Will Micky van de Ven be fit to start for Tottenham against Fulham?
Few players in the Premier League, especially defenders, have the pace and power that Van de Ven can offer and it would be a blow to any side in the division to lose such a key star at this point of the campaign.
However, Radu Dragusin impressed from the bench and looked incredibly comfortable in Tottenham’s back four for most of the second half. Hopefully, the January signing can take his chance to show why Spyrs were so keen to sign him this summer.
Spurs can move above Villa and into the top four with a win over Fulham, even if only for 24 hours and as they push for a place in next season’s Champions League, they have to find a way to secure all three points at Craven Cottage.
In other Tottenham news, a permanent Brentford switch could be on the cards for Sergio Reguilon after a Destiny Udogie update emerged
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