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Tottenham's squad to face Galatasaray on Thursday evening could have a rather youthful look about it due to a number of injuries at present. Seeing Cristian Romero and Richarlison limp off in Sunday's 4-1 win over Aston Villa, Spurs also have Micky van de Ven and Wilson Odobert on the sidelines currently.

Ange Postecoglou and his team have now jetted off to Istanbul for their fourth Europa League encounter and fans have been given an insight into the players who have travelled. As is usually the case ahead of a European away day, Tottenham have uploaded a short clip of the players boarding the plane to Turkey.

Tottenham's senior stars have made the trip but the numbers have been boosted by a handful of the club's academy stars. Will Lankshear, as expected, is with the first-team squad for the Galatasaray game and the striker has been joined by fellow youngsters Alfie Dorrington, Dante Cassanova, Callum Olusesi and Luca Williams-Barnett.

Lankshear, Dorrington and Cassanova are already part of Tottenham's squad for Europe following their inclusion on the B list. In order for Olusesi and Williams-Barnett to feature at RAMS Park on Thursday evening, the duo, as well as any other academy stars travelling to Turkey who are not already on the list, will need to be registered by the club no later than midnight (CET) the day before the game.

In order to be added to the B list, club-trained players must have been born on or after January 1, 2003 and spent an uninterrupted period of a minimum of two years with their club to be eligible. Europa League participants are allowed to register an unlimited amount of players on the B list during the campaign.

Tottenham Under-18s star Tynan Thompson was spotted in first-team training at Hotspur Way ahead of the Galatasaray fixture but there was no sighting of him boarding the plane. However, it needs to be pointed out that the 30-second clip of the players stepping on to the plane is merely a short snippet and not every single player travelling will feature in the video.

Ben Davies, Fraser Forster, Son Heung-min, Guglielmo Vicario, Dominic Solanke, Radu Dragusin, Archie Gray, James Maddison, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma were the senior stars that featured in Tottenham's social media post. The inclusion of 16-year-old Williams-Barnett appears to have gone down very well with Spurs fans due to the attacking midfielder's contribution of eight goals and three assists in seven games for the club's Under-18s this season.

The players added to Tottenham's B list for the Galatasaray game will be confirmed on the UEFA website on Thursday morning.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham for reaction to Spurs' victory against Man City! Click here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Neymar has sent a heartwarming message to Richarlison after the Tottenham forward issued an update on his latest injury blow.

Moments after assisting Spurs' third goal during their 4-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday, Richarlison limped off with a suspected hamstring problem. The 27-year-old, who had only come on in the 56th minute for Son Heung-min, was replaced less than half an hour later after setting up Dominic Solanke.

Having just recovered from an injury that kept him out for nine matches at the start of the season, this is another frustrating setback for Richarlison, who took to social message to update fans on his condition.

He said in an Instagram post: "Difficult moment that will be overcome again. Was very happy training and playing. And suddenly the injury comes again. Hard to talk at a time like this. I only ask that you pray for me and that God gives me protection," followed by a pleading face emoji and a raising hands emoji.

In the comments section to Richarlison's post, there were a number of well wishes, one of which was from Brazil legend and former Barcelona winger Neymar. The 32-year-old, who is currently playing his football in Saudi Arabia, wrote: "Let's go little dove... One more obstacle for us!" alongside a love heart emoji.

James Maddison was among the others to send a message to his Spurs teammate. He said: "Love you bro," with three white love heart emojis, while Guglielmo Vicario wrote: "The family is with you, Pombo," accompanied by a white love heart emoji. Pape Matar Sarr, Cristian Romero and Solanke also commented.

Meanwhile, ex-Brazil and Tottenham midfielder Sandro, who completed a shock transfer to seventh-tier side Harborough Town on Tuesday, said: "Stay strong brother. I know what you're going through, I went through it too.

"But people don't know how much it hurts, right? And you were feeling good again, helping your peers, being decisive. You are strong. God is with you. SPURS family is with you. COYS."

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham for reaction to Spurs' victory against Man City! Click here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

It is set to be another very busy week for Ange Postecoglou and his Tottenham squad before the final international break of 2024 gets underway. Fresh from two brilliant victories over Manchester City and Aston Villa last week, Spurs once again have two games on the agenda as they bid to keep up their impressive run of form.

Turkish giants Galatasaray are first up in the Europa League on Thursday evening, with Ipswich Town then visiting Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon. Spurs have lost a handful of players to injury recently and Postecoglou will be praying that the rest of his squad come through unscathed in these two upcoming fixtures.

Ahead of a hectic few days for the club, the Spurs players are currently putting in the hard work at their Hotspur Way training base before making the trip to Istanbul. As ever, the Tottenham cameras have given supporters a peek inside training with the release of the latest training video.

So what exactly happened in the session? Here we take a look at five things football.london spotted at Hotspur Way.

New youngster trains

One of Tottenham's talented academy players was given the chance to train with the first team ahead of Thursday evening's Europa League tie against Galatasaray. Tynan Thompson was the latest starlet to make the step up to first-team training having performed well for the club's Under-18s so far this season.

Operating on the left wing for Tottenham, the 16-year-old has one goal and three assists to his name from eight appearances so far in 2024/25. At the start of Spurs' latest training video, the youngster could be seen sat on a bench in the gym talking to long-serving defender Ben Davies.

Thompson was greeted by the first-team players once they all started to filter into the gym before then going to train with them outside at Hotspur Way. The player will now be hoping that more opportunities come his way with the first team as he looks to achieve his goal of playing for the senior side in the future.

Moore and Bergvall bromance

There appears to be a new bromance developing at Hotspur Way. Going on the video footage supplied by the club, Mikey Moore and Lucas Bergvall look to have struck up a close friendship.

The pair could be seen play fighting in the gym at the start of the video and then spending time with each other after the training session had finished. At a time when everyone else had gone inside, the youngsters were showing off their quality on the ball by volleying it to each other from quite some distance.

Whereas previously Bergvall always used to be seen alongside Dejan Kulusevski in training videos, the teenager looks to have developed a strong bond with Moore.

What Maddison said about Lankshear

Will Lankshear could possibly add to his solitary Tottenham appearance on Thursday night by getting some pitch time away at Galatasaray. Richarlison's latest injury leaves Spurs a tad short up front at present and Postecoglou may want to give Dominic Solanke a well-earned breather due to the amount of minutes he has played of late.

Prior to heading out for training at Hotspur Way, James Maddison could be heard shouting "Willie Lanks, there's a man who's scoring some goals in training today! There's a man who's scoring today. Let's go big boy". The young striker had a huge smile on his face and was laughing following Maddison's words as they made their way out together.

Maddison quite clearly knows what the talented frontman can produce in front of goal and he will be hoping to see the 19-year-old do what he does best in Istanbul on Thursday night.

Spence involved

Djed Spence will play no part for Tottenham on Thursday evening in Galatasaray due to his omission from the Europa League squad. The versatile full-back has unfortunately lost out on some valuable playing time in the team's first three European fixtures, with his recent injury issue also not exactly helping his cause in the domestic fixtures.

Spence has missed out on the squad in the past two games despite returning to training and he will have his fingers crossed that he is involved this weekend when Ipswich Town visit N17. The 24-year-old was fully involved in the latest training session at Hotspur Way.

Missing players and limited numbers

It will probably come as no surprise at all that Richarlison and Cristian Romero were not spotted in the club's latest training video. The duo came off with injuries in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday and Postecoglou will provide the latest on the duo when he speaks to the media on Wednesday evening as he previews the Galatasaray fixture.

Some fans may have spotted that Spurs were rather light on numbers once the players were training on the grass. Those who were either not involved against Aston Villa or had come off the bench in the victory took part in the session outside.

Players such as Maddison, Davies, Lankshear, Moore, Bergvall, Spence, Yves Bissouma and Archie Gray all trained as the rest of the first-team squad remained inside. The likes of Kulusevski, Pedro Porro, Son Heung-min, Destiny Udogie, Radu Dragusin, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and Rodrigo Bentancur were all seen in the gym at the beginning of the training video but not on the grass with the other members of the squad, which was no doubt a recovery session for them after their exertions against Aston Villa.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham for reaction to Spurs' victory against Man City! Click here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Newcastle United icon Alan Shearer says he wouldn't be surprised to see former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho return to the Premier League - tipping the tactician to take charge of Everton. The Portuguese was last in England's top-flight as Tottenham Hotspur manager but was sacked a week before their Carabao Cup final.

He has since tasted success in Italy with AS Roma, winning the UEFA Conference League as well as picking up a runners-up medal in the Europa League. But now he has been tasked with trying to end Fenerbahce's wait for success at the Turkish summit.

Mourinho has been in the headlines over recent weeks after being sent off against Manchester United during their draw in the Europa League. The 61-year-old recently blasted VAR after Fenerbahce's recent outing in an astonishing rant despite Sofyan Amrabat's last-gasp winner.

Everton sit precariously in the Premier League table with pressure continuing to mount on manager Sean Dyche. For over 12 months, the Toffees have been embroiled in a battle to change ownership as Farhad Moshiri looks to relinquish control at Goodison Park.

In September, Dan Friedkin agreed to buy the Merseyside club - adding to his football portfolio, which includes Roma, with Mourinho among the former managers.

Shearer believes Mourinho could be installed at the Goodison Park helm. He told Betfair: "Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho has been back in the news and media a lot recently, and the one thing you cannot do is underestimate him and his record.

"He creates headlines, whether that’s for winning trophies or being brutally honest, as he was at the weekend when he said, ‘nobody watches the Turkish league.’

"He is box office, and I think there’s always a message he’s trying to get across in the background, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this was him edging for a move back to the Premier League.

"Where could he go? Let us not forget he was recently at Roma, who are now close to their purchase of Everton - is there a subliminal message in there for what his future holds?

Tottenham ace Richarlison has stated it is "hard to talk at a time like this" after sustaining yet another injury. Having some rotten luck on the injury front since his move to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from Everton in the summer of 2022, the Brazilian limped off in Sunday's 4-1 win over Aston Villa with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

Played into the box by Pape Matar Sarr, Richarlison immediately grabbed the back of his left leg after squaring the ball for Dominic Solanke to make it 3-1. That proved to be his last involvement in the game as he was substituted moments later.

Richarlison had only just recently returned to the Tottenham team from injury and now faces another spell on the sidelines. Following his latest setback, the 27-year-old opened up on his injury in an emotional Instagram post.

"Difficult moment that will be overcome again," he penned. "Was very happy training and playing and suddenly the injury comes again.

"Hard to talk at a time like this. I only ask that you pray for me and that God gives me protection."

Richarlison wasn't the only Tottenham player to go off against Aston Villa with an injury as Cristian Romero had to be replaced on the hour mark due to a foot issue. Ange Postecoglou spoke about the pair when talking to the media after the game.

"Yeah, I know Richy obviously felt something in the action of setting the goal up, his hamstring, so we'll see," explained the 59-year-old. "Romero yeah, it was in that challenge again. He felt his foot was sore. I don't have any sort of further information. Obviously, he's a pretty tough cookie, for him to come off, it must be sore, but yeah, look it's not ideal. But again it's another game where we've had to reshuffle our back line.

"Radu has played left centre-back, right centre-back, left centre-back, right-centre-back, Ben Davies has had to come in at different times and Destiny midweek and the boys are handling it really well. As I said it's not ideal but, hopefully both are not too serious."

Postecoglou will provide a further update on Tottenham's injuries when he addresses the media on Wednesday evening ahead of Spurs' European tie against Galatasaray.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham for reaction to Spurs' victory against Man City! Click here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Former Tottenham midfielder Sandro has made the shock move to seventh-tier side Harborough Town. The 35-year-old, who played 106 times across his four years at Spurs, retired from professional football in September 2023 after a spell in Portugal, but has now decided to put his boots back on and sign for the Bees.

The Leicestershire-based non-league outfit play in the Southern League Premier Central and are into the second-round of the FA Cup. Harborough have beaten Darlaston Town, Stourbridge, Leamington, Bury and Tonbridge Angels to get to this stage of the competition and face Reading of League One in the next round.

Harborough announced the signing by admitting the transfer could 'break the internet' and manager Mitch Austin said: "What an unbelievable signing for the club, I really cannot express how I am feeling.

"I had a chance conversation with Sandro a couple of weeks ago and we got talking about football, told him about Harborough Town FC and the journey we are on and he has been messaging me ever since to sign on, totally unbelievable and gobsmacked is how I would describe this signing.

"These sort of signings don’t happen every day but when you get a chance to sign an ex-professional footballer who has played at the highest level in the Premier League and Internationally with Brazil, you just cannot turn it down."

Chairman Pete Dougan said: "What can I say, Mitch has done it again! I don’t know how but what a signing this is, a real show of intent from the club to be as good as they can.

"When I met Sandro I have to say there was trepidation, but really I cannot speak highly enough of him and his professionalism and will to make this signing happen.

"Everything about the signing was positive, what negative could there possibly be? He will certainly help all the players around him and what a time to be one of those players, I am sure they will relish him being at the club as should we all."

Sandro joined Tottenham from Internacional in August 2010 for a fee in the region of £8.3million. It took the Brazilian a little bit of time to adjust to English football, but once he did, he became an important asset for Spurs.

Sandro received special praise from Harry Redknapp after impressing against AC Milan in the last 16 of the Champions League in February 2011, winning Man of the Match in the second leg at White Hart Lane. He continued to shine and cemented himself as their first-choice defensive midfielder.

However, Sandro's Tottenham career took a downturn when he picked up a knee injury in January 2013 - an issue that ruled him out for the rest of the season. He made just 25 appearances in the 2013/14 season for Spurs before leaving the club and signing for QPR in September 2014.

Since then, Sandro has played for West Brom, Antalyaspor, Benevento, Genoa and Udinese. Across his career, Sandro has played 318 matches and has been capped 17 times for Brazil.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Ange Postecoglou is going to have to rotate his starting XI for Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League tie at Galatasaray on Thursday evening.

Spurs came through a gruelling week with three games in seven days with a narrow defeat at Crystal Palace and then impressive wins at home against Manchester City and Aston Villa. Now they make their way to Turkey and Istanbul in order to continue their Europa League campaign.

When they land back in the UK after the game they will have just two-and-a-half days until they welcome Ipswich Town on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League.

Tottenham have won their opening three Europa League matches so are in a strong position in second place in the overall group. That should allow Postecoglou more breathing room to rotate his squad to ensure he does not burn out his key players.

That's not to say Spurs will underestimate their hosts, who have started their own Europa League campaign well and sit in fifth. They have not lost a single game this season in the Turkish flight, which they sit on top of.

With all of that in mind, here are five players who will be hoping to get the chance to impress Postecoglou on Thursday night.

Will Lankshear

The sight of Richarlison immediately clutching his hamstring after setting up Dominic Solanke to score on Sunday brought more frustration for the unfortunate attacker, Postecoglou and the Tottenham supporters.

However, it does open the door for 19-year-old Will Lankshear to get more first team experience under his belt. The teenage striker started Spurs' first Europa League game at Ferencvaros and was unfortunate not to score a couple of goals in a busy display that night in Budapest.

Solanke has given everything to the Tottenham cause with his work ethic and in the past three games has run himself into the ground for the team.

Richarlison would likely have started this match in Istanbul and Postecoglou could decide to hand Lankshear the chance to experience what will be a hostile environment in Turkey as part of his development after impressing the coaching staff in pre-season, while giving Solanke a well-earned rest.

Mikey Moore

For a 17-year-old, Mikey Moore has been handed plenty of game time already this season as Postecoglou looks to give the exciting winger a pathway to develop his talents.

Moore has already made a string of starts for Spurs this season, with the Europa League bringing the bulk of them.

Whether both academy team-mates Moore and Lankshear start will likely be decided by what happens with Tottenham captain Son Heung-min.

The South Korean star came off the pitch after 55 minutes on Sunday, much to his obvious disappointment, and Postecoglou could decide to give the skipper another 45 minutes to an hour to provide an experienced head within the team.

If Moore plays then it's another chance to develop and throw his hat into the ring for further Premier League starts despite his tender years.

Lucas Bergvall

It was always expected that Lucas Bergvall would take a little longer than his fellow 18-year-old summer arrival Archie Gray to acclimatise to life at Tottenham as well as the rough and tumble of the English game.

That's not to say Bergvall has struggled but Gray played a full 50-game season in the Championship before arriving at Spurs so was physically ready for the challenge ahead. For Bergvall, the step up from Swedish football requires more fitness work to handle the speed of the game and that is something Postecoglou and the coaching staff have been working on with him.

The young Swede was unfortunate to come off after just seven minutes against Qarabag following Radu Draguin's dismissal, leaving the teenager without another game in his legs.

Bergvall has accordingly tired as matches have worn on when he's started and he needs further exposure to games like this, especially with what is likely to be a fast and frenetic encounter at times in front of the noisy RAMS Park crowd.

Bergvall has talent aplenty as a potential Tottenham playmaker and he will be desperate to show Postecoglou that he is ready for more game time in the Premier League with a big performance in Istanbul.

He is also developing a friendship with Mikey Moore, which could see the two talented youngsters linking up on the pitch for years to come.

Alfie Dorrington

Much depends on the status of Cristian Romero's foot after the Argentine had to come off in the second half against Villa after hurting it following a late challenge.

Reports from Argentina suggest it was a minor toe ligament injury rather than a break and the centre-back will be out for up to 10 days, which would put him out of the next two matches.

Should the World Cup winner be left at home as the team flies out to Turkey, then Alfie Dorrington could be called up from the U21s with Micky van de Ven out with his hamstring strain. Dorrington was not involved on Tuesday night as the U21s lost to Swindon in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.

Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies will likely start in the centre of defence on Thursday and Gray will be next in line, despite his lack of experience in the centre-back role.

However, there's an opportunity for Dorrington to get a spot on the bench and potentially make his debut at some point depending on how the game plays out.

The 19-year-old has been working his way back to fitness and sharpness in recent months following his return from a hamstring operation and he will be hoping to get the chance to catch Postecoglou's eye at times this season before Luka Vuskovic arrives next summer.

Yves Bissouma

Away from the teenagers and we're putting Yves Bissouma into this list for a different reason.

The Mali international is in a running battle at the moment with Rodrigo to start as the number six in Postecoglou's team for each game. Both players are getting plenty of minutes as the Spurs boss alternates between them but both would probably prefer to be the Premier League starting midfielder.

Bissouma has so far started only four of the 10 Premier League matches this season for Tottenham, albeit doing so in two of the previous three.

With Bentancur starting on Sunday against Villa and being replaced by Bissouma after 55 minutes, either could get the nod in Istanbul. If it's Bissouma then he will want to make a case to get more game time in the Premier League with a big display.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Tottenham have the opportunity to make it four wins from four games when they return to Europa League action on Thursday evening. Having already defeated Qarabag, Ferencvaros and AZ Alkmaar in the newly-formed league phase of UEFA's second club competition, Ange Postecoglou's men are back on their travels this week as they take on Turkish giants Galatasaray.

Tottenham will have to be at their very best if they are to pick up three points in what is expected to be a very hostile atmosphere inside RAMS Park. Galatasaray have started the Europa League in good form and currently sit fifth after two wins and one draw from their first three fixtures.

The focus on Thursday from a Tottenham perspective will very much be on the team Postecoglou puts out in Turkey due to a number of injury issues going into the fixture. But who exactly should be in the Spurs XI to take on Galatasaray? Our Tottenham writers at football.london have had their say below.

Alasdair Gold - Tottenham Hotspur correspondent

Postecoglou needs to rest some players and Tottenham's good start in the Europa League gives him a cushion to take a few more risks with the starting XI.

With Richarlison suffering a hamstring injury on Sunday, 19-year-old Will Lankshear could get his second start for the club up front to hand Dominic Solanke a much-needed breather. Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies are the only fit centre-backs and Archie Gray will be used in one of the full-back slots.

As Destiny Udogie came on early against Manchester City, Pedro Porro could start again as the fresher full-back as he got that night off last week.

James Maddison and Yves Bissouma may well provide the experience in the midfield, although Rodrigo Bentancur only played marginally more minutes than the latter on Sunday. Lucas Bergvall needs another start to continue his development.

On the right wing, 17-year-old Mikey Moore could get another start and Postecoglou may decide to give Son Heung-min a half or 60 minutes to continue to increase his fitness again after his spell out, while also bringing his leadership to the team.

Gold's team: Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Gray; Bergvall, Bissouma, Maddison; Moore, Lankshear, Son.

Rob Guest - Football writer

Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham simply cannot afford any more injuries right now and it would be no surprise at all to see key players given a breather in Istanbul. Dominic Solanke should be chief among them despite Richarlison's injury, with Dejan Kulusevski another who shouldn't be risked from the start against Galatasaray.

In terms of those who should start, Fraser Forster is the pick between the sticks after an excellent showing against AZ Alkmaar last time out in Europe. As Pedro Porro didn't play a single minute of the recent midweek fixtures against AZ and Manchester City, the Spaniard starts at right-back and Destiny Udogie is rested as Archie Gray starts at left-back. Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies complete Spurs' backline.

In midfield, Yves Bissouma, James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall should all come into the side as Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr and Kulusevski drop out. Mikey Moore, Will Lankshear and Timo Werner then make up the front three as was the case in last month's win at Ferencvaros, with Solanke and Son Heung-min, who only returned from injury last game, options from the bench in the second half if required.

Guest's team: Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Gray; Bissouma, Maddison, Bergvall; Moore, Lankshear, Werner.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham for reaction to Spurs' victory against Man City! Click here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Tottenham Hotspur are hitting their stride under Ange Postecoglou with nine wins from their past 11 matches but one aspect of their results is both a strength and a weakness.

Spurs completed a good couple of days by following up the Carabao Cup victory against Manchester City with a 4-1 win against Aston Villa in the Premier League. Two goals from Dominic Solanke, in between strikes from Brennan Johnson and James Maddison, cancelled out Morgan Rogers' first half goal for the visitors.

Postecoglou's team are the top scorers in the Premier League and that ability to put the ball in the net instils a belief in the north London side even when they concede. Tottenham have now scored 32 goals across 15 matches in all competitions, with only two sides managing to keep them at bay this season.

With that turnaround on Sunday, Spurs equalled the Premier League record for home wins when conceding first in a single year with what was their eighth comeback. In total, they have claimed 24 points at home from losing positions in 2024, 10 more than the second-placed team in that stat - Manchester City.

In contrast to the 'Spursy' tag, it actually shows that the north London outfit have more fight and spirit than most and a never-say-die attitude that has helped them claw back the points on more occasions than anyone else this year.

Their fitness also shows in the second halves of matches. Despite Villa having changed almost all of their team from their defeat to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, Postecoglou made just three changes to face Emery's side from the one that took on and beat City in a draining match on Wednesday night.

However, Spurs had the energy on Sunday. Their constant pressing ensured they won the ball back 11 times in the final third while Villa could not even manage it a single time during the encounter at the other end of the pitch.

In all the home side ran a combined 110.5km to Villa's 104.4km despite their extra midweek exertions.

The problem though is that conceding first is also clearly a weakness. It was one that plagued former Tottenham boss Antonio Conte during his spell in charge during a pattern of poor first half performances.

There were comebacks under the Italian but there's only so many times you can gift the opposition the lead before it comes back to bite you again and again in the end.

Postecoglou did not have any qualms about the way Sunday's game played out even if he was disappointed with the goal.

"You're playing a top team and you know with Villa that they're always going to have a really strong performance because they're very, very consistent. They rarely have off days and you've got to be ready for that," said the Australian.

"I thought we had to match it with them in the first half. We had to draw on their energy and make them work really hard. Obviously we conceded a goal, but I still felt like we made them work really hard in that first half.

"And, you know, the thing with us is we've got another gear in us, two or three gears and we keep going and we felt like we could really break them open in the second half if we just really stayed focused on making sure the football was up tempo and there was intensity in the game and credit to the players after a massive effort on Wednesday night, at least they know that physically they did it again."

Tottenham's defending has improved this season. Villa's opener on Sunday was only the second set piece goal Spurs have conceded this season in the Premier League and only three teams have conceded fewer than them in the competition this term.

However, that defence wants cleans sheets to show for all of their efforts and it's a simple thing to say but if the other team cannot score, they cannot win.

Tottenham want to score goals aplenty but as the match at Selhurst Park proved recently, it's not a given.

You can run a marathon without kicking yourself in the foot first and while Spurs' spirit is admirable, the comebacks shouldn't need to be a weekly occurrence.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Tottenham defender Cristian Romero has been named as part of the Argentina squad for November's World Cup qualifiers. The Spurs ace started in Sunday's 4-1 win over Aston Villa but made way on 61 minutes due to injury.

Romero sustained a foot injury in a tackle with Villa's Morgan Rogers and was in no position to complete the final 30 minutes of the contest. It was in fact the second game running that the World Cup winner had exited the field early after only playing 52 minutes in last Wednesday's 2-1 win over Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.

Romero's injury against Aston Villa was not the only issue Spurs picked up in the game as Richarlison was also forced off late in the contest with what appeared to be a hamstring issue. Speaking after the game in his post-match press conference, Ange Postecoglou provided an update on the duo.

"Yeah, I know Richy obviously felt something in the action of setting the goal up, his hamstring, so we'll see," he said. "Romero yeah, it was in that challenge again. He felt his foot was sore. I don't have any sort of further information.

"Obviously, he's a pretty tough cookie, for him to come off, it must be sore, but yeah, look it's not ideal. But again it's another game where we've had to reshuffle our back line.

"Radu [Dragusin] has played left centre-back, right centre-back, left centre-back, right-centre-back, Ben Davies has had to come in at different times and Destiny [Udogie] midweek and the boys are handling it really well. As I said it's not ideal but, hopefully both are not too serious."

Postecoglou is due in front of the media on Wednesday evening ahead of Tottenham's Europa League tie against Galatasaray and he will provide the latest on the fitness of Romero and others. Ahead of this month's international break that commences after the conclusion of this weekend's games, Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has named his 28-man squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru.

Despite the current question marks over Romero's injury and when he could return to action, the centre-back has been included in the Albiceleste squad, which suggests they believe he will be fit to represent his country later this month. Scaloni will certainly be hopeful that his defender is in a position to play in both games due to his key role in his starting XI.

If indeed Romero is to feature for his country during the international break, Postecoglou and Spurs will be keeping their fingers crossed that he doesn't suffer any further issues at a time when Micky van de Ven is currently on the sidelines through injury.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham for reaction to Spurs' victory against Man City! Click here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.