Tottenham relief as Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie spotted at Hotspur Way pre-Crystal Palace
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou will be desperate to have first-choice full-back pairing Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro available for selection once again.
Postecoglou has demonstrated since his arrival in North London that his full-backs are key to the way he wants to play.
Udogie and Porro have both adapted to the Australian’s unique demands superbly, demonstarting an impressive level of confidence in their inverted full-back roles.
Both players could make strong cases for being Spurs’ Player of the Season for the 2023/24 campaign, and it was therefore a huge blow for Postecoglou to have them both unavailable last time out.
Udogie and Porro’s absences clearly made an impact, as Spurs were beaten 2-1 at home by Wolves on Saturday 17 February.
Ahead of the clash with Crystal Palace at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 2 March, Postecoglou will hope that both players are fit and available.
In a recent video posted to Spurs’ official TikTok page (27 February), there was a big indication that could very well be the case.
The video features the first-team players arriving for training and taking part in a challenge, with both Udogie and Porro featuring.
Tottenham need Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro against Crystal Palace
While their inclusion in the social media footage isn’t a guarantee that they will both play against Palace, it is certainly cause for optimism among Spurs supporters.
Those Spurs supporters will need all the optimism they can get, especially considering Palace’s result last time out.
Oliver Glasner got off to a winning start as Crystal Palace boss with a 3-0 victory over Burnley at Selhurst Park on Saturday 24 February, and the South London side will be full of confidence when they arrive at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend.
Aston Villa are five points ahead of Postecoglou’s side in the race for Champions League football, and the 58-year-old will be well aware that his team cannot afford to slip up.
If Porro and Udogie’s importance to this Spurs side wasn’t already obvious enough, Ben Davies and Emerson Royal’s disappointing performances against Wolves would have certainly made it apparent.
Emerson struggled to replicate the form Porro has demonstrated going forward this season.
As per Sofascore, while he did complete 93 per cent of his passes, none of them were key and he failed to create a big chance for his teammates. He also was unsuccessful in providing an accurate cross into the box from his two attempts or a long ball forward, once again from two attempts.
As for Davies, despite some impressive performances deputising as a centre-back this season, he couldn’t reach those levels while filling in at left-back for Udogie, who has made the position his own over the past six months.
Davies showed his usual composure at the back as he won five of his eight ground duels, and made two tackles, one interception and one clearance, but just like Emerson, it was in the forward areas where his issues arose.
Although the Wales international did manage to play three key passes, he completed zero per cent of his crosses, failing with all six attempts, and only managed to succeed with one of his three attempted dribbles.
He also missed one big chance toward the end of the match as he headed spectacularly wide from close range and squandered a chance to steal a point for the hosts.
After Udogie’s recent goalscoring performance in the 3-2 win over Brentford on Wednesday 31 January, the 21-year-old would have been full of confidence and might have done better than his Welsh counterpart with a similar opportunity.
It was a reminder to Postecoglou that he needs more depth in his full-back positions, and hopefully, for the former Celtic boss, he won’t have to call on Emerson and Davies again against Palace.
in other Tottenham news, a doctor believes that one Spurs player is likely to miss the rest of the season.
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