by Injured Tottenham have no further fitness concerns ahead of their Boxing Day clash against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, with Destiny Udogie declared fit and Rodrigo Bentancur returning from suspension.
Udogie is a key player for Spurs as the club’s first-choice option at left-back, but has not played since the 5-0 demolition of struggling Southampton on December 15 after suffering a problem at thigh at St Mary’s, where he was substituted before the match. half-hour mark by Pedro Porro.
Head coach Ange Postecoglou expressed optimism that the problem was not significant and said the decision to withdraw him early on the south coast was more prudent, even if the Italy international ultimately missed the thrilling Carabao Cup quarter-final victory over Manchester United.
Udogie was then named on the bench for Sunday’s chaotic 6-3 defeat to Liverpool in the top flight, but remained an unused substitute despite Tottenham’s continued defensive struggles.
11th-placed Spurs face another tough test on Boxing Day as they travel to meet an in-form Forest side who have won four of their last five matches, including the last three in a row under Nuno Espirito Santo, to climb to fourth place in the ranking. , still without Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario, Ben Davies, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison due to injury.
However, Postecoglou believes Udogie is now ready to start and is also boosted by the return of influential midfielder Bentancur, who served his seven-match domestic ban for comments about teammate Heung-min Son in full , after seeing an appeal against the sanction rejected earlier this month. The Uruguayan remained available in the Europa League.
“Since [Liverpool] game, as far as I know, no problem,” Postecoglou said in his pre-Forest press conference on Christmas Eve. “Fate was on the bench [against Liverpool]Wasn’t 100% but should be fine for the game [against Forest]. Bentancur is available after his suspension. That’s kind of it for the moment.”
Expanding on Udogie’s recent problem, Postecoglou said he just felt some pain, but didn’t think it was wise to risk further aggravating the problem against Liverpool.
“He was just a bit sore from the game before, after the Southampton game,” added the Australian. “He trained but didn’t feel 100 percent. In normal situations, we could have taken this risk. But I just thought we shouldn’t use it.”
