James Maddison and Micky van de Ven have not yet returned to training with Tottenham ahead of this weekend’s game against Everton, according to manager Ange Postecoglou.
The influential duo, who signed with Leicester City and Wolfsburg respectively in the summer, immediately became a key figure in Ange Postecoglou’s starting eleven until they were injured in November.
Maddison injured his ankle and van de Ven had to leave the game with a thigh muscle injury, so there was growing optimism that both could return sooner than originally anticipated, but manager Postecoglou says that is difficult to say at the moment.
He told reporters at the weekend: ‘It’s hard to say. They are both in rehab and neither of them are close to training with the first team at the moment. If you look at the schedule, Micky and Madders did it in almost the same game. Micky may be just a little bit ahead of schedule as far as Madders is concerned. Both the January and Bentancur types are quite similar.
“It’s not that we’re trying not to give out information, these things kind of either speed up or drag on when you get to the final stage. Until I see them with us, it’s hard to say.”
The Lilywhites are also missing centre-forward Yves Bissouma and full-back Destiny Udogie due to suspensions, but manager Postecoglou will be hoping they still have the strength to register a third successive win to leapfrog Manchester City into fourth place in the league standings. Pep Guardiola’s charges will not play this weekend due to their participation in the Club World Cup.