Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero is available for Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Chelsea, while head coach Thomas Frank says Wilson Odobert and Destiny Udogie are also fit.
Romero has missed four consecutive matches across the league, Champions League and Carabao Cup after being pulled out of the pre-match warm-up against Aston Villa on October 19 with an adductor injury.
Odobert was a surprise omission from Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United on Wednesday, with Frank later confirming he was unavailable due to a minor side strain, while Udogie has been out of action since picking up a knee injury on international duty with Italy earlier this month.
“(Cristian) Romero, Destiny (Udogie) and Wilson (Odobert) are available for selection tomorrow,” Frank said in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. “If (Romero) was fit enough, he would have been involved Wednesday. He’s ready to be involved tomorrow. Let’s see how much.”
After scoring his first career brace in Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Everton last Sunday, Micky van de Ven sat out their mid-week defeat to Newcastle. Kevin Danso, who has deputised excellently in Romero’s absence, played the full match alongside Joao Palhinha in central defence.
On the other end of the pitch, Frank said Dominic Solanke, who has only featured twice this season, will not return before the November international break.
“We’re very aware that when we get Dom back, we hopefully, touch wood, have him back and no setbacks,” Frank said. “We are very aware of doing it the right way. It’s going in the right direction, he will not be available before the international break. So that’s the status right now.”
Tottenham are not in good form against Chelsea, losing four straight games under previous head coach Ange Postecoglou. Still, Frank is looking forward to his first London derby at home as Spurs boss.
“Very exciting,” he said. “Really looking forward to it. It’s a London derby between two big rivals. There’s so much on it, against a very good Chelsea team. It will be a very, very competitive even game under the floodlights. It’s got everything to be a top game where you will be on the edge of your seat hopefully.
“We need to come flying out and get the fans with us. I’m very, very positive about us coming out and performing very well tomorrow.”