James Maddison absence explained as Roberto De Zerbi speaks out from Tottenham tour

James Maddison is yet to feature for Tottenham Hotspur in pre-season.

The 29-year-old only made his playing return in N17 in May after a lengthy injury lay-off.

There will be concerns about featuring over the summer after suffering his cruciate ligament tear 12 months ago.

That ultimately ruled him out for 46 games across 254 days which limited him to just three Premier League appearances.

Everyone will want the upcoming campaign to be better for the Englishman, but he'll have to make it through pre-season first.

That has made it all the more concerning that Maddison has been missing in the opening two friendlies as Roberto De Zerbi looked to clarify things.

Is Roberto De Zerbi hiding James Maddison fitness details?

The Lilywhites are currently over in New Zealand for a three-legged tour in Oceania.

Spurs faced Auckland overnight on Sunday and secured a simple 2-0 win at Eden Park.

Dane Scarlett and Richarlison got on the scoresheet, while Mathys Tel also caught the eye with a top performance.

There were positives to take, but many were left concerned as to the whereabouts of Maddison.

He has missed both pre-season outings to this point and many have questioned whether he has faced an injury setback.

De Zerbi has looked to explain his absence, although it could be argued that he is holding back somewhat.

Speaking after the Auckland win, the Italian said: "He's not working the last five days, I think, like Udogie, but they have not a big problem, just to stay focused, don't take any risks."

Suggesting that he does have a "problem" but not revealing what that is does feel frustrating and raises more questions than it answers.

Why Tottenham need Maddison back

After finishing 17th yet again, it is clear that experience is needed back amongst this Spurs squad.

There aren't many better in the side than Maddison after eight years as a Premier League player.

Last season, he was unable to show what he's about as he featured across just 34 minutes, but he did still take two shots in that time.

It was clear the year before his injury that he has quality as he put up 16 goal involvements in the league alone.

As part of that he created 41 chances and completed 33 dribbles to help his side moving forward.

That on top of 133 duel victories and 64 defensive contributions showed that he was also willing to put in the hard yards.

Tottenham need that sort of attitude and also need De Zerbi to be more open and honest about where Maddison's fitness is at.