Ange Postecoglou admits Tottenham may be forced to make a move over the weekend for defensive cover if Radu Dragusin’s injury turns out to be serious.
Dragusin came off with a knee injury after coming on as a half-time substitute during a 3-0 Europa League win against Elfsborg on Thursday.
Postecoglou thought it did not look too good after the match and although he will wait for further information he is already thinking of contingency plans with the transfer window closing on Monday.
‘Depending on the extent of Radu, it might be an area we need to look at and certainly this weekend we are exploring some options,’ said the Spurs boss, ahead of Sunday’s Premier League game at Brentford.
‘It’s hard to tell. It’s a knee, so we’ve got to let it settle down. There’s always concern when there’s a knee injury but we don’t know the extent.’
Dragusin’s agent Florin Manea, today told TV Channel Digi Sport: ‘I don’t know, we have to wait for MRI. It’s about fatigue, this is the cause. Postecoglou must see what is the reason of these injuries, if it’s the training, because there were a lot of injuries this season’
Radu Dragusin went down after coming on in the second half of Spurs’ 3-0 win over Elfsborg
Ange Postecoglou is waiting to learn the extent of Dragusin’s injury before dipping into the transfer market for a new defender
Postecoglou admittedSpurs are ‘exploring some opportunities’ after being linked with Mathys Tel
Until Dragusin’s injury, Tottenham’s priority had been to boost attacking options before the transfer deadline on Monday.
They were in the chase to sign Mathys Tel and Spurs are understood to have agreed a deal with Bayern Munich, however the 19-year-old France Under-21 international has since rejected Spurs’ approach.
‘I usually find out at the tail end of this stuff what’s going on,’ said Postecoglou when asked about Tel. ‘We’re exploring some opportunities in the last couple of days of the window to see what we can do. But nothing’s across my desk yet.’
He has defenders returning from injuries and more expected back soon. Micky van de Ven played 45 minutes against Elfsborg, his first action after three months of hamstring trouble.
Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie are expected back within the next fortnight, along with goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Romero’s return date has slipped back. ‘It’s just a slower healer with him,’ said Postecoglou. ‘It is one we are looking at on a week to week basis. Again, he has been out for quite a while. Like with all the other long-term ones, we are just taking our time.’
There does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel after the worst of the injury crisis but the Spurs boss joked: ‘I hope so, but every time I’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel it’s usually been an oncoming train. We seem to be losing players as we get them back.
‘I’m trying to manage the minutes of the guys we have available because we don’t want to lose anyone else, but again, best laid plans, you know, we obviously tried to shield Radu because he had played a lot of football, and he comes on and you know he gets injured.
‘So again you can’t plan for these things, so hopefully, I mean we’ve got a big week coming up for sure starting Sunday .We’re going to have to do it with this sort of core group of players, so we’ve just got to be careful about how we go about it.’