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Ange Postecoglou is hopeful injury-hit Tottenham will have reinforcements for Thursday’s trip to Bournemouth.
Dominic Solanke was the latest Spurs player to join a growing list of absentees after he was sent home unwell on the morning of Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Fulham.
That made it eight players unavailable for Tottenham, but the former Bournemouth forward could be fit enough to make his Vitality Stadium return, while other recent absentees are also on the comeback trail.
Postecoglou said of England international Solanke: “I hope so. He trained (Saturday) but he came in and didn’t look well at all so we sent him home.
“It’s obviously an illness not an injury so we need to see how it settles down in the next couple of days but hopefully it’s nothing too significant.”
Archie Gray had to be substituted after being sent on against Fulham, but Postecoglou revealed it was only a “dead leg” for the versatile midfielder.
Cristian Romero has not played for Tottenham since before the international break due to a toe issue.
Postecoglou was cautious over whether the Argentina defender would return for the midweek clash.
“Potentially,” Postecoglou admitted.
“He still hasn’t trained with the team, so he’s getting closer but he still hasn’t trained with the team.
“So, him and Micky (van de Ven) are still working with sport science staff. So, hopefully, not too far away.”
In the absence of Romero and Van de Ven, Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin have deputised in defence to good effect over the past week with Spurs’ attack wasteful against Roma and not creative enough versus Fulham.
Postecoglou added: “Benny and Radu have been outstanding throughout this spell.
“There aren’t too many teams in the league who have both their centre-backs out. I mean, I’ve seen so much violin playing over one centre-back out, but we’re just supposed to get on with it.
“And the beauty of it is these boys are and I love that, I love the character they’re showing.
“I love the fact that they’re not seeking excuses or wanting me to make sort of allowances for it, but at some point, I need to also acknowledge the massive effort that all these guys are putting in.”
Fulham’s impressive point was earned by Tom Cairney’s second-half strike, but he will now miss three matches following his 83rd-minute sending-off for a late tackle on Dejan Kulusevski.
Cottagers boss Marco Silva said: “Yes, really tough for us not to have a player like him. I know he is not always a starting player but Tom is the type of player if he plays 10 minutes, he is going to have an impact.
“He is going to be a big absence for us. Let’s hope we can have Andreas (Pereira) ready to go in the way I know he can play because we need everybody at this moment.”
