Postecoglou reveals which game Romero and Van de Ven could return for

Ange Postecoglou has offered a detailed explanation of why Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are not available for selection yet despite training and revealed which game Tottenham can expect the duo to return to action.

The wait continues for Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven

We last saw Romero in action against Chelsea at the start of December. While Van de Ven did get 45 minutes against Elfsborg a couple of weeks ago, he has not been part of any of the club’s matchday squads since.

Ange Postecoglou confirmed on Friday that both players still need a few weeks to be ready but insisted that neither of his starting centre-backs have suffered new injuries.

The Tottenham head coach has now provided a date for when the Argentine and the Dutchman could be back available for selection.

When will Romero and Van de Ven return for Tottenham?

After facing off against Manchester United tomorrow, Spurs travel to Ipswich Town on February 22 before hosting Man City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium four days later.

Spurs are then back in Europa League action a week later, with the first leg of the round of 16 tie set to be played on March 6.

When asked if Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero could be back in time for the Europa League game, Postecoglou responded (via Football.London): “Yeah, with a bit of, for want of a better word, momentum, in terms of them getting some good training work.

“If it’s not then, it won’t be much after. We’ve got an international break so it won’t be much after that. I would include Dom [Solanke] in that as well. He’s in a similar sort of boat.

“Once the boys get the green light, they’re going to push pretty hard. It’s like Madders, he should have been out for another two weeks. Vicario we had scheduled for the middle of March. It just depends on the players, but I would certainly expect Micky and Cuti to be around the mark of that time.”

Postecoglou reveals if Romero and Van de Ven have been training

The Tottenham boss explained that Romero and Van de Ven have been doing a lot of individual training over recent weeks.

He explained that playing a game will involve a significant step up in intensity and that the centre-back duo might not be ready for that just yet, with the club easing them into proceedings.

When asked why Cristian Romero and Micky Van de Ven are not ready to play if they have been training, the Tottenham boss responded: “Because it’s a different sort of intensity, and when I say training, they’re not training always with the team. They’re doing a lot of individual stuff which is more based around them getting back to the levels that they need.

“To just paint a clearer picture, we’ve hardly trained for two-and-a-half months. I keep saying that you blokes could have joined in our training and I mean that seriously.

“We’ve literally just been walking around going through tactical stuff. For them to join in that, it serves no purpose because they get nothing out of it physically. Our (fit) guys have just been recovering.

“It’s just now, in the last three days, and the hope is that we can drop, now we’re training properly, Micky and Romero over the next couple of weeks to be part of our team training totally. Call it modified, call it what you want, but a lot of work they’re doing now is individual training.

“What I’m saying is they’re not bed-ridden, they’re not in sitting just getting treatment, they’re out there running. They’re doing significant training but it’s just not with the team always.”

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