Credit: Imago

James Barker

Sat 21 March 2026 15:50, UK

Tottenham Hotspur will surely call upon Antonin Kinsky over Brandon Austin as Guglielmo Vicario prepares to undergo a surgery on a hernia.

Tottenham are preparing for their biggest Premier League run-in, perhaps in the Lilywhites’ modern history.

With time running out, Spurs are just about keeping their necks above the proverbial relegation zone water, but despite being knocked out of the Champions League, have got the winning feeling back after beating Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

The 3-2 victory on the night saw Igor Tudor earn his first win in charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the Croatian will hope his side can use that as a platform to take into their remaining league games.

Sunday sees Tottenham take on Nottingham Forest in N17, in what is a huge relegation six-pointer, and Tudor has a decision to make over who is in between the sticks for Spurs.

Antonin Kinsky is safer Tottenham bet over Brandon Austin

Kinsky was subbed off after 17 minutes in Tottenham’s Champions League first leg tie against Atletico Madrid, in what was one of the most shocking moments of Spurs’ season so far.

Since then, the 23-year-old has watched on from the bench against Liverpool and Atletico respectively, with some even questioning whether that might be that for him at Spurs entirely.

It was the type of ruthless decision by Tudor that could well have fractured any trust between him and Kinsky, but he may well now be forced to put his faith back in the young Czech.

Vicario is to undergo surgery on a hernia next week, but that could still leave the door open for Tudor to select the Italian against Forest on Sunday.

After that, however, he will definitely have to turn to one of either Kinsky or Austin to take the gloves for a few weeks, and with all due respect to the latter of those two, it has to be Kinsky.

Austin, 27, is a product of Tottenham’s academy system, but has only ever made three competitive first-team appearances for the Lilywhites.

In fact, despite being 27-years old, Austin has only ever made 22 competitive senior appearances during his career, with 14 coming on loan at Viborg, five with Orlando City and the aforementioned three with Spurs respectively.

As such, Kinsky is actually considerably more experienced than Austin is, and so with their Premier League existence on the line, Kinsky has to be the safer and better option than Austin to take over from Vicario.

What games has Austin played in for Tottenham?

Given the situation with Kinsky post-Atletico, Austin will no doubt be knocking on Tudor’s door in the attempt to convince him to give him a chance after Vicario’s injury blow.

However, in the three competitive matches he’s played in for Tottenham, he’s conceded four goals and only kept one clean sheet.

Two of those appearances came in the Europa League last season, both of which were group stage games against Hoffenheim and Elfsborg respectively.

His lone Premier League appearance also came last season too, and that was in a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United.