Here's what we spotted at Tottenham's training session at Hotspur Way on Tuesday morning ahead of their Champions League match
Tottenham's players were out in the sunshine on the pitches of Hotspur Way ahead of the Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid.
Spurs have a 5-2 deficit to make up after the first leg of the last 16 clash in Madrid even if all eyes are on Sunday's huge Premier League match against Nottingham Forest as both teams fight to escape the drop. The north London side will take some confidence into this week from their battling performance to grab a point at Liverpool at the weekend to finally end their six-game losing streak.
football.london watched the opening stages of training at the club's Enfield-based training complex on Tuesday morning as interim head coach Igor Tudor and his staff worked with the players and here are some of the key questions from the session and the answers we took from it.
Who was back?
There was a hat-trick of good news for Tottenham fans. First captain Cristian Romero was involved in training after seemingly coming out of the concussion protocol following that clash of heads in Spain last week.
Tudor had said last week that Destiny Udogie was close to returning and the Italian was involved in training with the group on Tuesday after his hamstring injury. There was also an extra returning face in Lucas Bergvall, who was on the grass with his team-mates after recovering swiftly from surgery on his left ankle back in January.
Micky van de Ven is also available again following his suspension against Liverpool at the weekend.
Who was missing?
Richarlison is suspended from Wednesday's game after reaching the yellow card limit and he was working in the gym rather than out on the training pitches, which might just be part of his normal routine.
Joao Palhinha could be seen working alone with a member of the sports science staff, jogging around a nearby pitch, which would suggest he is not yet out of the concussion protocol.
Conor Gallagher travelled to Liverpool at the weekend but was too ill on the day of the game to take part and he was not involved in training on Tuesday. The same goes for Yves Bissouma, who is dealing with a muscle injury.
Where was James Maddison?
You can always guarantee a James Maddison sighting at an open training session and the midfielder emerged before the rest of the team did on Tuesday.
He went off to a far pitch at the other side of the first team area to continue his rehabilitation in the sunshine after that ACL injury last summer.
Whether the 29-year-old will return this season remains to be seen but he is continuing to work hard and no risks will be taken over his reintegration into the group when it's decided he is ready. It's worth remembering that Radu Dragusin for example was back in training with the team for a couple of months before he made his return to the pitch on December 28 last year. Using that as a guide, it might be tight for Maddison to be back this season if he's not back with the group yet.
What were the spirits like?
The sun was shining and Tottenham had ended their losing streak with a well-earned point at Liverpool to spirits were high. There was plenty of laughter amid the hard work in the early stages of the session.
One of the early warm-ups brought a reaction test in which players sprinted the way the coach told them. That brought cheers and laughter for those who reacted or guessed right, like Pape Matar Sarr and Kevin Danso, and finger pointing and more laughs as speedier players like Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence darted the wrong way as they guessed incorrectly.
Who fell over?
There was great hilarity before that as the Spurs players set off on a run around the pitch to start their warm-up as one of them ended up on their backside on the grass immediately.
Mathys Tel appeared to trip over a ball that rolled his way and the Frenchman took a tumble to the turf. It was a slip that sparked guffaws from the group, especially those around him, and he saw the funny side as well.
Tottenham will be hoping for no more slip-ups this week and only the happy faces.