Ange Postecoglou has insisted he will not rush Cristian Romero’s return from injury, despite Tottenham’s quick turnaround between Thursday’s Europa League match and Sunday's visit of Fulham.
Centre back Romero has struggled with a toe injury over the last month and had to leave international duty with Argentina early because of the issue before he then sat out both the City game and Thursday night’s European fixture.
‘Romero is closer (to returning), he is probably the closest,’ Spurs boss Postecoglou said.
‘He is probably unlikely (to be involved against Fulham), but I am not ruling him out.’
Micky van de Ven, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison are still absent, while Rodrigo Bentancur is serving a lengthy domestic ban for his alleged racist remark about captain Son Heung-min.
Postecoglou said that the identity of his side is not about to change — even if that means dropping points when playing on the front foot.
‘There is plenty of room for pragmatism in walks of life and in football as well — but I’m just not interested in it,’ he added.
‘I don’t know why I need to change my approach to be like everyone else wants me to be. I will continue to push this team to be a bit different, to play football in a different way — and maybe when I am long gone you will all pine for my entertainment, and you will have had your fill of pragmatism.’
Postecoglou added: ‘We haven’t achieved anything yet, we haven’t done all the things we want to do, so if I start being pragmatic, then maybe we will never get there.
‘I loved our last 20 minutes of the first half (in the 2-2 draw against Roma). We should have got a third goal that would have killed the game off, but we were exciting to watch — and that’s what I want.’