Guglielmo Vicario has broken his silence following his return from injury in Tottenham Hotspur's 1-0 victory against Manchester United. The 28-year-old goalkeeper, who had been side-lined since November - after having surgery on his ankle - played a crucial role in the Lilywhites' victory on Sunday evening.
Despite having missed 21 games across all competitions, Vicario slotted seamlessly back into Ange Postecoglou's team, making numerous saves to maintain Spurs' lead. The Italy international helped Tottenham claim three crucial points in the race for European football qualification.
The north Londoners may still be in the bottom half of the Premier League, but they'll be determined to scale the table as their big names return from the treatment room. After the final whistle, Vicario marked that victory with a celebratory post on Instagram, which eclipsed 50,000 likes overnight.
Captioning a picture of himself celebrating Spurs' win, the Italian wrote: "I can't explain how much I've missed you [football and white heart emoji]. What a feeling guys #COYS [arm flexed emoji] @spursofficial #1nnegoziabilmente #livingthedream #1 #Venom."
Dominic Solanke joined hundreds of Spurs' fans in the comment section to show his appreciation for Vicario. The 27-year-old striker, who joined the Lilywhites from Bournemouth last summer, posted: "He's back!!"
Speaking to reporters after the match, Postecoglou was quizzed on Vicario's return to the matchday squad. The Tottenham manager said: "Yeah, that does make a massive difference. Getting guys like Vic and [James] Madders contributing straightaway, you can see the quality they have and the presence they have.
"As you said I can put guys on and for guys like Brennan [Johnson] and Wilson [Odober], Vic, Madders to a certain extent, it might take them one or two games to get up to speed, but the fact we have them available, yeah, it's an enormous boost for us."
On if there's a return of confidence, Postecoglou added: " I don't know if confidence is the right word, but you are right about lifting the mood and I sensed that in training. Not just with the players, but even with the coaches. We have hardly trained the last two months.
"We have just gone out there and tried to work on things without putting a physical toll on the players, because of the game schedule. We have had to do it with U21 and U18 players. This week all of a sudden we have had 20 senior fit players, which gives everyone a boost.
"Training is more energetic and up tempo. The players and the coaches all respond to that and feeds in. That's why I thought it was important that we got a win. We can do that again this week and build into a big week."
Postecoglou, 59, went on: "There's no doubt. The players understand when they see the likes of Vicario, Maddison, Johnson, all training again they feel good. as well. As much as all players want to play, they also knew they needed help and they have got it this week."