Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that Spurs midfielder Pape Matar Sarr didn’t train on Friday.
The Tottenham boss, speaking to football.london, says he and his coaches will be monitoring the 21-year-old ahead of the Aston Villa clash.
Sarr picked up an issue while on international duty with Senegal and is now a doubt for Tottenham’s return to Premier League action.
“We’re just checking on Pape Sarr, who has an issue coming back from the international team as well,” Postecoglou said on Friday. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow as he didn’t train today.”
Mounting injury problems for Tottenham:
On the plus side, the Tottenham boss isn’t ruling Sarr out of the game outright. However, it’s still a huge blow that Spurs are sweating on another star’s fitness.
Tottenham’s injury list is growing, and there are also players suspended who won’t be able to play against Villa on Sunday.
At present, Micky van de Ven, James Maddison, Richarlison, Ivan Perisic, Manor Solomon, Ryan Sessegnon and Ashley Phillips are all injured and will miss the next game.
Meanwhile, Cristian Romero and Yves Bissouma are suspended for the encounter against Unai Emery’s claret-and-blues.
Sarr would be another huge miss if he’s unavailable. The ‘unbelievable‘ talent has been instrumental in the Tottenham midfield alongside Yves Bissouma. Spurs would be further weakened without him in the XI.
You could argue that Spurs need more strength in depth if they are to challenge for honours this season. However, an injury list that long, and with so many key players out, would derail any team.
It’s now very much about damage control for Tottenham. Try and get as many points as possible with a depleted team by hook or by crook and then reassess when the key players return.