Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has delivered the latest on Pape Sarr‘s fitness following his enforced withdrawal against Aston Villa.
The Lilywhites’ Premier League plight continued in the West Midlands on Friday evening, where Unai Emery‘s Lions got one over their capital counterparts in a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Ezri Konsa and Boubacar Kamara.
Once again, Postecoglou started a second-string team for their penultimate Premier League match of the season, as the Australian wraps his integral players in cotton wool before the Europa League final.
However, the Tottenham boss was dealt a highly untimely new fitness concern ahead of the trip to Bilbao to face Manchester United, as Sarr was taken off for Yves Bissouma early on in the second half.
The Senegal international’s change appeared tactical at the time, but he was then seen heading down the tunnel with a member of medical staff, suggesting that he had picked up a new problem.
Postecoglou hopeful over Sarr injury ahead of Europa League final
© Iconsport
Postecoglou was inevitably questioned on Sarr’s concern post-match, but the ex-Celtic boss cut a calm figure and expressed hope that the midfielder’s concern was nothing severe.
“Pape felt something in his back so we took him off as a bit of a precaution. I don’t think it’s anything too significant speaking to him afterwards but he just felt something in his back,” football.london quotes Postecoglou as saying.
Sarr should therefore be given the thumbs-up to make the trip to San Mames for the Europa League final, and he was one of two Spurs players whose race was run before full time on Friday.
Teenage sensation Mikey Moore made just his third Premier League start of the season on the right-hand side and lasted until the 87th minute, five days after completing 71 minutes in the loss to Crystal Palace.
Offering an update on the 17-year-old, Postecoglou added: “I think Mikey (Moore) was okay. It was fatigue as much as anything else. He hasn’t played that sort of amount of minutes before.”
What could Tottenham’s midfield look like in Europa League final?
© Imago
The initial assessments of Sarr’s injury may not be too alarming, but there was also not much concern over Dejan Kulusevski at first last weekend; the Sweden international has now been ruled out for the rest of the season.
Kulusevski is one of three advanced midfield options for Tottenham who will be watching on from the sidelines, as James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall are nursing knee and ankle issues respectively.
If Sarr is not given the green light to make the cut, Archie Gray will likely operate in the deepest midfield slot, as Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur start either side of the English youngster.
However, Postecoglou instead fielded Wilson Odobert in an advanced midfield role at Villa Park, and the Australian admitted that Spurs may need to “rely” on him in Bilbao given their lack of other creative options.
On a brighter note, skipper Son Heung-min completed 74 minutes after recovering from a foot injury, putting him firmly in contention to start the Europa League final.
