Eastern Daily Press

England forward Solanke has endured an injury-hit few months and only featured three times this season, with his last appearance for Spurs on August 23 against Manchester City.

After a lengthy lay-off in pre-season with the same issue, Solanke’s absence over the past five weeks has sparked a flurry of questions for new boss Thomas Frank and he finally underwent surgery on Wednesday.

“The last few months have been very frustrating as I’ve tried everything possible to try and push through my ankle issue before taking the option of surgery,” Tottenham’s £65million forward Solanke said on Instagram.

“None of this managed to solve the problem, so we had to go ahead with minor surgery, which I underwent this morning.

“It was all successful so hopefully I’ll be back on the pitch in the very near future. Thank you for all your love and messages.”

Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at Bodo/Glimt was the sixth match Solanke has missed this season and stand-in captain Micky van de Ven admitted to being disappointed at the team’s overall performance in Norway.

Spurs had to fight back from being 2-0 down after two fine second-half strikes by Jens Petter Hauge to leave with a point in the Champions League.

Van de Ven was given the armband in the absence of injured captain Cristian Romero and started the comeback with a 68th-minute header for his maiden goal in the competition before Archie Gray’s low shot forced an 89th-minute own-goal from Jostein Gundersen.

“A tough game, really tough and 2-0 down, so I think we can be happy with a point,” Van de Ven told SpursPlay.

“It’s a nice feeling (to score) and I’m happy also we get the point otherwise if you lose 2-1 and you score it doesn’t matter, but happy to score my first goal (in the Champions League).

“Yeah, really proud moment. I am happy to help the team as well today. I was hoping for a better performance from our team, but I am happy with the point and a really proud moment for myself and my family (to be captain).”

A flying header by Dutchman Van de Ven from Pedro Porro’s cross came 146 seconds after Bodo’s second goal.

The Spurs centre-back acknowledged the instant reply was significant, adding: “That is also important because I think that gives some extra pressure on them.

“They knew if we score the 2-1 straight away, they need to drop and we are coming. I think we played really well after this and got the point.”

It is the third time in September that Tottenham have been forced to come from behind to claim a point.

Spurs trailed by two goals at Brighton and required an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time on Saturday to rescue a point at home to Wolves.

Centre-back Kevin Danso added: “Our mentality came out. I think that is the third time this season we have been down and come back.”

Solanke, who last played for Spurs on August 23 against Manchester City, was absent from training again on Monday ahead of the Champions League fixture away to Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday.

England forward Solanke had returned to training earlier this month before he was pulled out last week, but Frank revealed in Norway that a final decision had been made to go down the surgery route.

“Dom has got that ankle issue that’s been bothering him for a little while, so now we’ve decided to make a minor surgery,” Spurs boss Frank told a press conference.

“It’s a small procedure, so that will mean he is not ready for today of course and of course Leeds (on Saturday) as well. We’ll have more news about a timeframe after the international break, but I don’t expect it to be long.”

Frank had played down concerns over Solanke’s fitness in Friday’s press conference before a 1-1 draw at home to Wolves on Saturday night.

Solanke missed the majority of pre-season with an ankle issue, but it appeared to be fixed by the start of August after he featured in matches against Paris St Germain, Burnley and Manchester City.

However, with the 28-year-old not able to play for Tottenham during the last five weeks, Frank was asked whether the club could have opted for surgery sooner.

He said: “No, I think you can look at it two ways. That is the easy answer but it is not that easy because if we knew we could have done the surgery a month ago, we probably would have done it.

“For me I am always ‘it is what it is’. We deal with it now and no doubt the way we dealt with it was because we thought that was the right thing. In general no one wants surgery.”

Surgery for Solanke leaves Frank light on attacking options in Bodo, with Paris St Germain loanee Randal Kolo Muani unable to train on Monday.

Frank provided a positive update on the France international, but he will be unavailable for this rematch with Bodo four months on from a Europa League semi-final victory at Aspmyra Stadion.

Mathys Tel featured in the 2-0 win in the Arctic Circle, but is not registered for Tottenham’s Champions League squad, which is also the case for summer recruit Kota Takai and Yves Bissouma.

Takai and Bissouma took part in training on Monday along with Ben Davies – after a minor knee issue – but Frank revealed captain Cristian Romero has been left in England as a “precaution” after a bruising encounter with Wolves.

Frank added: “Kolo Muani, I think now we’re finally on top of his dead leg, so that is also progress there and good. Cuti was just a precaution.”

Danish coach Frank heaped praise on Norwegian minnows Bodo after their historic run to the Europa League semi-final was followed by qualification for the Champions League for the first time.

Asked about Spurs’ 2-0 win under his predecessor Ange Postecoglou, Frank admitted: “How many months is that? Four months ago? With all due respect, I was not the coach.

“This is a new game. This is a new situation.”

Charles visited the home of Tottenham Hotspur to highlight the Premier League club’s work supporting local businesses and good causes and its collaboration with America’s National Football League (NFL) which stages games at the arena.

During the visit the head of state could not resist throwing an American football under the watchful eye of the longest-serving British NFL player Efe Obada.

Gina Moffatt, 48, an ex-offender who turned her life around with help form the King’s Trust, formerly the Prince’s Trust, now runs a successful restaurant in Tottenham employing 15 full time staff.

She told the King: “I’m so excited that you’re even back in Tottenham, this year’s looking all good, Tottenham Hotspur’s doing great stuff.

“We’ve got Beyonce coming but you’re bigger than Beyonce.”

The US superstar is due to perform at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June, return performances for the singer who staged concerts at the venue a few years ago.

Charles and his wife visited the area in 2011 after the Tottenham riots, a visit that was billed as the time as the then prince of Wales coming to listen to residents.

During the visit he met students from the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, a state-funded high achieving sixth form located on the stadium campus and co-sponsored by Tottenham Hotspur, and chatted to other people supported by his trust.

On the pitch he received a rapturous reception from dozens of school children and was handed an American football by Obada.

After Charles’ effort, Obada said: “I love the King’s energy and the fact he came here and got stuck in.

“His technique wasn’t immaculate, I wanted him to get a little closer to the target so he could get it in but he was having a great time and got a good reception.”