Tottenham Hotspur will look to advance to the Europa League final as they take on Bodo/Glimt away on Thursday night.
Spurs did well in the Europa League semi-final first leg as they established a 3-0 lead, though a late Bodo/Glimt goal gave the Norwegian side hope for the second leg.
Tottenham have been dealt another big injury blow ahead of the game, with James Maddison joining Lucas Bergvall on the sidelines for the rest of the season.
Dejan Kulusevski is likely to fill in for Maddison at No. 10 and Ange Postecoglou, speaking ahead of the game, made a confident prediction about the £25million man.
Ange Postecoglou backs Dejan Kulusevski to ‘work his socks off’ for Tottenham against Bodo/Glimt
Postecoglou expressed how pleased he was to have Kulusevski back, particularly in the wake of Bergvall and Maddison suffering injuries.
The Tottenham boss believes Kulusevski is “getting stronger with every game” and predicted he’ll “work his socks off” and be “important” against Bodo/Glimt.
“Certainly it’s good to have Deki available because with Lucas and Madders, [who are] different players obviously, but very creative, going down in the same week,” Postecoglou told football.london.
“It’s great that Deki’s back. He obviously missed a lot of football and it always takes a while to get his rhythm and I feel like he’s been getting stronger with every game.
“Against West Ham you could see he was starting to get his rhythm again. Irrespective of where he’s at, he’s going to work his socks off for the team.
“He’s got an unbelievable engine, he doesn’t stop running and he’ll be important for us.”
What Dejan Kulusevski has said to Tottenham amid transfer links
There has been a lot of speculation over Kulusevski’s future at Tottenham of late, with reports claiming that he could leave the club.
One recent report claimed that Kulusevski is ‘seeking clarification’ from Spurs about their intent to bring in ‘exciting reinforcements’ in the summer.
Postecoglou’s future is also said to have a bearing on the Sweden international’s plans.
It has further been claimed that winning the Europa League this season would help convince Kulusevski to stay.
In addition, the decision makers at the club ‘have pinpointed keeping him as of more significance than sticking with Postecoglou‘.
Kulusevski’s current contract at Tottenham expires in the summer of 2028.
