Igor Tudor has provided an injury update ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's clash against Atletico Madrid. The Lilywhites will host Diego Simeone's side on Wednesday night as they look to overcome a three-goal deficit in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League last-16.
Speaking to reporters at Hotspur Way on Tuesday afternoon, the interim Spurs head coach announced that Joao Palhinha and Conor Gallagher will be unavailable for selection. Tudor also confirmed that Destiny Udogie and Lucas Bergvall, who were spotted in training at Hotspur Way a few hours prior, will be named on the bench.
Speaking to reporters at Hotspur Way on Tuesday afternoon, the interim head coach said: "Joao, no. Destiny and Lucas will be on the bench tomorrow. One part of the game, not too much because they have just started training with us, but it's good to see them."
The former Juventus boss later declared Cristian Romero fit for the match. The Tottenham skipper, who suffered a head injury following a collision with Palhinha in the first leg, was also involved in training earlier in the day.
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"Romero, he's there. You saw him in training today? He can play. Joao, no, he's a little bit worse, so he'll be (available) for the next game. Romero is in."
Conor Gallagher, however, was absent from training as he continue to nurse a virus, which has affected his breathing. The former Chelsea midfielder was left out of the matchday squad at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
When quizzed on Gallagher, whom Spurs signed from Atletico for £35m in January, Tudor said: "We see today what we can do because he has, as you know, probably asthma problems.
"He has some virus to make some not nice things so we are going to see tomorrow if he is able to go on the bench," added the temporary Tottenham boss. "Nothing like a danger but still he is not able to play."
During the pre-match press conference, Micky van de Ven, who sat beside Tudor, took the opportunity to squash reports claiming that players had began to down tools. The Spurs defender said: "Of course I've seen things [written].
"Reporters just say things sometimes and it's like how did you come up with this, like players have switched off. It's not true. They say players are going to leave either way. It's just nonsense and people start believing it."
Van de Ven added: "The other day when we read that one guy told the rest of the team that he doesn't care because he's leaving anyway. It's like how does this come out? It's just made up. And the fans will believe it. It's just frustrating for us guys."