Tottenham Hotspur are kicking off their 2025/26 Carabao Cup campaign by hosting League One side Doncaster Rovers FC at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday night.
Spurs boss Thomas Frank sat down this afternoon for a press conference ahead of this League Cup opener, here is what he had to say.
Potential starting XI
In terms of a potential starting XI for tomorrow’s game, Frank said that every one available for Saturday’s Premier League match versus Brighton & Hove Albion, will be available again.
However, some players are going to miss out on selection, including Ben Davies and Kolo Muani, with Frank explaining it was a ‘minor injury for both of them’ but it was ‘just too short a turnaround.’
Tomorrow will also mark an appearance for goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, in a move which has seemingly solidified rumours surrounding his future with the Lilywhites.
Frank admitted it was a brave choice for Kinsky to make a move to Tottenham, but he expressed his support for the player, saying:
“I'm very happy with him as a goalkeeper, I think he's a very good goalkeeper with very good potential.
“The easy thing for Antonin would have been to stay at his former club – now it's a bigger stage, a bigger challenge.
“He has a great future here at Tottenham, I like what I see from him, he just has to keep training well and doing well."
Long-term injuries
Tottenham winger Dejan Kulusevski has not made an appearance yet in Frank’s squad, after undergoing knee surgery following an injury back in May – forcing him to miss playing in the Europa League final, and the start of the season.
Frank maintained that Kulusevski is a key player for his Spurs side, however an exact return date has not been decided as of late.
“Instead of putting an exact month on it – October, November, December – I just want him back as quickly as possible.
“The medical guys and Kulusevski are working really hard on that – so, it's not tomorrow, but hopefully not too far away.”
However, Frank did state that there could be a return on the cards for the winger before the end of the year.
The pressure to succeed
Tottenham last won the Carabao Cup in 2008, back when it was known as the UEFA League Cup – but the Lilywhites will be hoping to capitalise on their recent trophy success to push for more silverware.
Frank addresses the pressures he felt heading into tomorrow’s clash, after stating in his first press conference as team boss that he wished to make this Spurs side competitive in all four competitions.
“If you want to compete in all four tournaments, you need to be good enough to pick the right team every single time.
“And I promise you before I pick the team, it looks like an unbelievably good plan and also to be brave enough sometimes with the selection both ways to every single time we put a team out there, it's super strong.”
Alongside the Carabao Cup, Tottenham have also already began their Champions League campaign, and will be adding the FA Cup to that list in the new year.
Regarding this, Frank did not want to underestimate the impact of the amount of games on his squad, saying he is also aware that ‘no player can play 60 games times by 90 minutes’.
“It's that balance we need to hit throughout the season, not only because we are facing Doncaster.
“It could be Brighton, last week it was Villarreal, you know, we made some changes, and we need to hit that perfect number of players that rotate and a strong team.
“And it will be a strong team tomorrow.”