Dejan Kulusevski is ‘fine’ and ‘ready’ to play for Tottenham against Fulham, confirms Ange Postecoglou… despite winger being locked inside a stadium in Brussels while away with Sweden following terror attack
- Two Sweden supporters were shot dead in Brussels before kick off on Monday
- Players and fans were locked inside the ground for protection after the attack
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’
Dejan Kulusevski is ready to return for Tottenham despite being among the players and thousands of fans locked inside a stadium in Brussels this week during a terror attack.
The Tottenham midfielder was part of the Sweden team that saw its Euro 2024 qualifier against Belgium abandoned at half-time after two travelling supporters were shot dead in the capital hours before kick-off.
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou spoke to Kulusevski after his return to Tottenham and confirmed the forward is in the right frame of mind to face Fulham on Monday.
‘He’s fine,’ said Postecoglou. ‘I had a chat with him. Like everyone else, we shake our heads at these things. We go to a football game and these things happen. It’s sad, confronting how close it comes to your own world but Decky is fine. He’s back, trained yesterday (Thursday) with the team and is ready to go.’
Fans and players and were held inside the King Baudouin Stadium for more two hours on Monday night with the gunman, who claimed to be a member of ISIS, still at large until he was later shot and killed by police.
Tottenham forward Dejan Kulusevski is available for selection for Spurs’ game against Fulham
Kulusevski (right) was playing for Sweden when their match against Belgium was abandoned at half time after a terror attack
Two people wearing football shirts were killed and another injured in Brussels before the game
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The Sweden team, which included Kulusevski and Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof, was given a police escort to the airport after midnight.
The game was level at 1-1 before Sweden’s players refused to leave the dressing room at half-time and, after Lindelof visited Belgium’s dressing room, there was widespread agreement that the game be abandoned.
Swedish players and staff spoke to the travelling supporters in the concourse before they began to evacuate the stadium.
UEFA confirmed the match would not be replayed with the score standing as the final result.
Postecoglou confirmed on Friday that none of his players had returned from the international break with any injury issues.
Brennan Johnson, who has been absent since the end of September, should be back available for selection despite not playing for Wales in the last fortnight.
The game between Belgium and Sweden was level at 1-1 before its abandonment, with the half time score standing as the final result
Brennan Johnson, meanwhile, is expected to be available for selection for the Fulham game after a month out injured
He said: ‘It’s been a positive international break in terms of availability, everybody is back and there are no issues.
‘Lo Celso played for Argentina which was great. Brennan had a solid couple of weeks of training which has been good for him, along with Gil and Bentancur.
‘The game being on Monday night helps us. We’ll give Bennan a few days.
‘We’re being careful with Bentancur. He’s fully training and he’s coped well with it. We’re mindful that he’s missed a fair bit of football. We’ll pick our moment and looking forward to getting him back.’
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