Ange Postecoglou reveals why Destiny Udogie was missing for Tottenham on Monday
Ange Postecoglou has played down fears of fresh injury setbacks, offering clarity on Destiny Udogie and James Maddison following Tottenham’s latest Premier League defeat.
Tottenham Hotspur suffered their 18th Premier League defeat of the season and their eighth home defeat of the campaign in their 2-1 loss to Nottingham Forest.
It’s a result that now leaves Spurs sitting uncomfortably in the bottom half, with just four teams worse off than them in the league standings this season.
A daunting trip to Anfield awaits Ange Postecoglou’s side on Sunday, and if they fail to take anything from that, it would mark their 19th defeat of the season – a result that could see them drop as low as 17th.
Ange Postecoglou gives Destiny Udogie and James Maddison injury update
Goals from Anderson and Wood had Forest 2-0 up before Richarlison pulled one back late on to add a touch of respectability to the scoreline.
It was a game that saw Ange Postecoglou make five changes to his starting XI, meaning some big names were left out altogether.
James Maddison picked up a sore knock during Tottenham’s Europa League tie against Eintracht Frankfurt, while Destiny Udogie was absent from the squad entirely.
Speaking to football.london after the match, Postecoglou cleared up any concerns regarding the pair. He stated that Udogie was fine, while Maddison was still sore.
He said: “Yeah, they’re ok. Destiny was fine. We just left him out of the squad tonight. He put in a big physical shift on Thursday and the idea was always to rest him.
“I wasn’t going to put him on so there was no point in putting him on the bench. Madders was pretty sore yesterday but in the last 24 hours he recovered and was keen to be on the bench. They’re both fine.”
Tottenham rotation continues as Europa League takes centre stage
With Tottenham’s focus now primarily on the Europa League, Ange Postecoglou is expected to continue making these types of squad decisions, rotating players to keep them fresh for the games that really matter.
On the balance of play against Forest, Spurs weren’t terrible. They created plenty of chances and just lacked that final touch, something that’s become a running theme across the season.
Maybe on another day it would’ve been a different outcome, but it’s hard to keep pointing to what-ifs when we’re 33 games into the league campaign and those same issues haven’t been resolved.
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