Ange Postecoglou has revealed why Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero were not involved in Tottenham's dismal 1-0 defeat to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League last 16 first leg on Thursday night, despite returning from long-term injuries.
The central defensive duo have been badly missed by Spurs for along periods this season, but both returned from their injuries to be named on the substitutes' bench for the Europa League clash.
It was a huge boost for Postecoglou and the Tottenham fans waiting to see them back in action. However, neither made it off the bench, with the duo kept back by the Australian head coach.
And he has revealed exactly why he made that decision in his press conference ahead of the weekend's Premier League clash with Bournemouth. Postecoglou said: "When I saw the pitch I decided I wasn't going to risk them. A couple of extra days training and they will be in the mix."
Postecoglou referenced the pitch in his post-match press conference folowing the defeat to AZ. It was a poor performance all round from Spurs and they have work to do in the second leg now if they are to keep their dream of silverware alive next Thursday.
Postecoglou said on Thursday night: "It wasn’t great from us tonight. Pretty much all facets of the game. We didn’t really get to grips with any part of the game. We struggled to gain any momentum with the ball, we weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be without the ball.
"It was a tricky surface but having said that we kind of knew that from yesterday and yeah we just didn’t tackle the challenges we had out there in a real positive way. That allowed AZ to get into a rhythm, which when you’re playing away from home, it is difficult to stem the tide."
Romero and Van de Ven are likely to be involved as Spurs take on Bournemouth at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon.