Tottenham will hope to have Dominic Solanke back as they travel to face Bournemouth on Thursday night, though there are still injury problems in defence.
Solanke was not involved in Sunday’s draw with Fulham due to illness, having been sent home on the morning of the match, but Postecoglou suggested the striker could be back to face his former club in midweek.
Asked after the Fulham match if Solanke would be available against Bournemouth, Postecoglou said: “I hope so. He trained but he came in and didn’t look well at all so we sent him home.
“It’s obviously an illness not an injury so we need to see how it settles down in the next couple of days but hopefully it’s nothing too significant.”
Cristian Romero has not played since before the international break due to a toe issue and remains a doubt, even if Postecoglou gave a relatively positive update when quizzed on the centre-back’s chances of facing Bournemouth.
“Potentially,” he said. “He still hasn’t trained with the team. He’s getting closer, but he still hasn’t trained with the team.”
Spurs could opt to be cautious with Romero’s fitness, particularly with Chelsea visiting on Sunday for a crucial London derby.
Micky van de Ven is expected to miss out again, meaning Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies are set to continue as the centre-back partnership.
If Postecoglou does have one eye on the Chelsea match this weekend, Djed Spence could be one of those to come into the side, with Pedro Porro handed a rest.
Fraser Forster’s excellent performance against Fulham proved why Postecoglou has insisted he will not be signing a replacement for the injured Guglielmo Vicario in January. The former England international will continue between the sticks.
Defence – Porro, Dragusin, Romero, Udogie
Postecoglou revealed last week that Cristian Romero is closing in on a return from an ankle injury. The club captain came close to appearing against Fulham but just about missed out. His return will be unfortunate for Ben Davies, who was Spurs’ best performer against the Cottagers.
Bentancur serves the third of his seven-match domestic suspension for an offensive comment that he made about Son Heung-min and South Koreans over the summer, but he will return for Spurs’ next Europa League game.
Ange Postecoglou has already declared he always wins things in his second season but it won’t be the Premier League title and they were dealt a blow in the UEFA Europa League last week as they were pegged back to a 2-2 draw by Roma in north London to mean they have collected one point from their last two matches in that competition.
As inconsistent as ever, Spurs followed up their famous 4-0 hammering of Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium ten days or so ago by being held to a 1-1 draw in a London derby against Fulham at the weekend with Brennan Johnson’s opener being cancelled out by Tom Cairney in the second-half.
