Micky van de Ven has not been included in the Tottenham matchday squad for Sunday’s Premier League encounter against Newcastle United. The Netherlands international did give Spurs a scare eight days ago after going to ground just prior to half-time in the 4-0 win over Everton.
Competing for the ball with Dwight McNeil, Van de Ven looked to have jarred his knee when he planted his right foot back on the ground. The centre-back was in some discomfort following the incident but he was able to continue in the match and went on to play a key role for Son Heung-min’s second goal of the game with a charging run from the edge of his own area.
Postecoglou did not mention Van de Ven when issuing an injury update on Friday but the 23-year-old does in fact miss out on Tyneside. Speaking to the media about Van de Ven ahead of the game, the Spurs boss said that the defender is “not quite 100 per cent” and that “it’s nothing serious”.”Micky was close in training this week but with the international break he’s not quite 100 per cent,” explained the 59-year-old. “Part of me was keen to give Radu a run, especially at this venue, so yeah we’re going with Radu today.”
When asked if it was disappointing, he said: “No, not really. It’s nothing serious. We’ve got a heaped programme straight after the international break so we’re going to need all our back four. So getting Radu a game today I think is a positive thing for us.”
Van de Ven’s absence does leave Tottenham extremely light at centre-back for today’s game against Newcastle. Radu Dragusin has come into the back four to partner Cristian Romero at the heart of defence, leaving Ben Davies as centre-back cover with Archie Gray also able to play there if required.Postecoglou did mention towards the end of last season that he wanted to add a new centre-back to his squad for the 2024/25 campaign. Despite a busy transfer window, Spurs went without adding at centre-back and the head coach explained the reason why to football.london at his press conference on Friday.
