James Maddison has been included in the Tottenham squad to face Brighton with Roberto De Zerbi issuing a clear verdict
Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi has issued an emphatic verdict on James Maddison after including him in the matchday squad to face Brighton. The attacking midfielder has not played in this campaign after suffering a bad knee injury in pre-season.
However, he has been in team training over the last few weeks and has been named among the substitutes for the Premier League clash against Brighton. On Maddison, De Zerbi said: "James is one of the leaders, one of the most important players in the squad.
"I think he can give us energy, quality, because when he will be available to play, his quality is amazing. In this moment, we need everyone, all players focused on Tottenham, and especially an important player like James."
De Zerbi has also been boosted by the return of Rodrigo Bentancur, who has missed the last three months with a hamstring injury.
Yves Bissouma is also back in the starting XI with Xavi Simons another included from the off. Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Richarlison are the players that have made way.
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Kevin Danso is the other change made by De Zerbi with that one enforced due to the injury suffered by Cristian Romero.
He has joined Mohammed Kudus in picking up an issue that will see him miss the remainder of the season. Guglielmo Vicario is expected back before the end of May but is still not fit to feature after hernia surgery, which means Antonin Kinsky has remained in goal.
The Lilywhites are in desperate need of points in their battle to avoid relegation, with last weekend's results pushing them into the bottom three.
This weekend, Spurs have the chance to put the pressure on as they play before West Ham United and Nottingham Forest. The latter host Burnley on Sunday while West Ham travel to Crystal Palace on Monday evening.
Having lost his first game in charge against Sunderland last Sunday, relegation to the Championship is a real possibility with just six matches left to preserve their spot, though De Zerbi is just taking it one game at a time.
He said: "In my words, what I said last week was the focus is to win one game. I don't know if tomorrow we are able to win, I hope.
"I think we have the quality enough to win a game, but anyway we have to be stronger because the qualities of the players are bigger than all, the difficulties we are spending in this moment."