The injury situation at Tottenham Hotspur is bad and we all know it,but there is some good news on that front today. Thomas Frank gave his usual press conference ahead of this weekend’s Premier League fixture at Burnley on Saturday and gave a positive update on the status of Destiny Udogie, Xavi Simons, and Dominic Solanke, while also confirming the injury to Lucas Bergvall and what could be an imminent return by Joao Palhinha.
“Unfortunately Lucas picked up an ankle injury. He keeps being very unlucky
with injuries. It looks like a bigger one. He’s being asssessed in the next couple of days so we’ll know more about the timeframe.
“Palhinha is progressing, could be close for Burnley but will be tight. Dom, Destiny and Xavi all came through well and have had a little extra recovery time. They should be available for Burnley.”
Solanke’s fitness is the main concern, and when asked Frank said that he’s not 100% and wouldn’t be nailed down on when he would be, but that he’s been pleased with his performances since returning to the lineup.
“I think [Dom] is not close to it, I would say. I think we saw a Solanke that was on, whatever, 70%. It’s difficult [to know] when you are on 100%. I think we saw a lot of good things from him. He scored a goal, exactly where he should be, with a nice little triple contact. But the big positive is, he was where he should be in the box. There were three other situations where we were just doing the wrong movement, and then arrived front post instead of behind the defender, and on the end of the cross from Pedro. Both of them, we know, have a good connection.
“But that, how do we get that in? That’s playing minutes together. He is a very fit player in general, he can play with high intensity throughout the game. After 65 he was just done. That means there is more to come. And we would just, because it’s the first 65 minutes in seven months, something like that, so we are very aware that two good recovery days, then train tomorrow, then he’s available and ready for Saturday. And then we take it game by game. It’s more his fitness, match fitness. His injury is fine.
“[The injury situation] must be close to my third year in the Premier League with Brentford, I also had a horrendous year which impacted massively the Premier League season unfortunately so this is definitely close. The Bergvall one, how unlucky is that? With contact injuries, there was Joao? Kudus? Some of them is like what is happening here, seems like we are cursed or something like that but injuries are a part of football. Next thing we can look at is how can we speed up the return to play.”
The win over Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday clearly bought Frank some time and injected a bit of hope and optimism into what has been a highly toxic relationship between him and the Spurs fanbase. For what it’s worth, Frank mentioned that he continues to have lunch with Vinai Venkatesham, Johan Lange, and others at the club to check in, suggesting communication has not broken down despite a poor run of results this season.
Spurs kick off at Burnley this Saturday at 10 am ET / 3 pm GMT. It is not televised in the UK, but will be broadcast on USA Network in the States and streamed on nbcsports.com.
