Earlier today I posted some bad injury news about Dominic Solanke. That wasn’t fun to read and I didn’t like writing it. So how about some GOOD injury news instead? That seems like a fine idea.
Good thing
I have some, then! Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank gave his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s North London Derby at the Emirates Stadium, and said a handful of Spurs players that were doubtful before and during the international break are now fit and available for selection. Those players include Pape Matar Sarr who picked up a knock while playing for Senegal, Lucas Bergvall who was sent home from Sweden while still suffering from concussion-related symptoms, and Randal Kolo Muani who got his face in the way of Harry Maguire’s swinging elbow and broke his jaw, but who will play while wearing a mask.
“[The injured players] are good, most of them. Pape trained today. He’s ready, available. Lucas trained today. Ready, available. Kolo Muani, yes. Trained today. Available, of course has a mask [he] needs to play with.
“And Dom [Solanke] is not ready yet. I think he also had an article recently where he spoke about it. So we are very, as I said, the same. Very aware that when we put him out there, we want to be absolutely sure, as sure as we can be, that no setback going forward. So I’m comfortable he will soon be ready, but I will not put a timeframe on it.”
That’s good news in that it takes Spurs’ critical injury list of 13 players down to a slightly less critical 10. And there’s more good news: a few players, including Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Archie Gray, Kota Takai, are in full training and are nearing the point where they can start to get match and fitness minutes.
“Radu, very happy. He has probably been in that for a couple of weeks now. Full training, full in, everything. With the team, played his first 45 minutes in nine months, something like that, last Wednesday, I think it was. Very happy with that. Trained fully today.
“Now he’s definitely getting very close to being able to be selected. Now it’s just a matter of performance and probably just a few more game minutes to be fully available. Kota and Ben both trained with the team today, so that’s also positive.
“[Archie Gray] trained with the team as well. Now I need to make difficult decisions!”
Gray, Dragusin, Davies, and Takai are reserve options when everyone’s healthy, but the reality is that Spurs simply don’t have much depth right now, and depth is where you win games and win trophies. So it’s a welcome thing to know we have these players coming back soon, for sure.
The North London Derby is always one fraught with emotion on both sides, and the reality is that Spurs haven’t won an NLD at the Emirates since November 20, 2010, and at all since May 12, 2022. There are reasons for that, of course, but Frank says he’s not overawed by the occasion of playing his first North London Derby as a head coach.
“Yeah this is the real one. Super excited. Of course before I stepped into the club I knew about the North London derby. But it’s when you’re in it, you sense it and feel that this is important. You feel it from the fans, you feel it from the staff members, the players, the people that have been working here for years. This is the big one.
“I always say the next game is the most important game. I always have that. But I’m very, very, very aware there’s two games in a year that’s even more important and this is the first of them. We’re ready, we’re up for it, we’re looking forward to it and we’ll do everything we can to win.
“The interesting thing is that probably both Mikel [Arteta] and I would like a little bit more of a controlled game, but it will probably end up absolutely madhouse. Very, very enjoyable to watch for the outside people or fans. I expect a difficult game of course, but a game that can go anywhere.
“Everything can happen in that game. In games like that everything also evens out a little bit more because it’s so competitive. The atmosphere in the stadium, it doesn’t matter if we play away or home, is intense. We’re just really looking forward to it. I know we’ll be ready and we’re looking forward to it.”
Frank was asked about Arsenal leading the Premier League in set piece goals and countered with a stat of his own.
“It’s a big challenge. I think we hold the record for the fewest goals conceded from set-pieces. That’s not a bad stat either, but there’s no doubt that one of the battles we need to win in this game is a set-piece battle. Can we win that battle? Then we’re halfway there. They’re strong, we’re strong. That will be a battle in itself.
“Then there’s a lot of other battles. The high pressure, the defending, the building up and all that, but the set-pieces will be a battle.”
The North London Derby kicks off Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. GMT. The match will be televised on Sky Sports Premier League in the UK, and streamed on Peacock in the United States.
