Tottenham’s injury nightmare: James Maddison’s ankle issue is ‘a lot worse’ than first feared – and could rule him out for three months – while Ange Postecoglou confirms Micky van de Ven and Richarlison’s long absences

• James Maddison and Micky van der Ven will both be out until at least next year
• Spurs play Wolves on Saturday lunchtime off the back of 4-1 defeat to Chelsea
• What is the WORST Premier League hat-trick? – Find out on It’s All Coming Up

Ange Postecoglou revealed that James Maddison’s injury will keep him out until the end of the year at least, with Micky van de Ven also out until 2024. 

Tottenham travel to Wolves for the Saturday lunchtime kick-off on the back of Monday’s 4-1 home defeat to Chelsea, and a raft of injuries and suspensions will mean a much-changed outlook for Postecoglou’s Spurs at Molineux.

Earlier on Friday, Postecoglou claimed the Premier League’s Manager of the Month award for Spurs’ progress in October, his third such accolade in three months – but it is not a time for the Australian boss to savour, due to the high number of injuries. 

Postecoglou said: ‘Don’t get a lot of time to enjoy the moment. There’s a fair bit happened after Monday night. Micky with a hamstring injury we knew was fairly significant. We’re looking at a couple of months into the new year.

‘Madders a lot worse than we first thought. Was bad the next day. Again into the New Year with him.’

Ange Postecoglou will need to make several changes when Tottenham travel to Wolves

Maddison was forced off during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-1 defeat to Chelsea

Micky van de Ven will also be out until the new year after pulling his hamstring on Monday

Richarlison underwent groin surgery this week to deal with a ‘chronic issue’ that affected his ability to play, although Postecoglou revealed in Friday’s press conference that it was ‘scheduled’ due to the international break, and that the Brazilian faces ‘a month out’. 

As well as the injuries to Maddison and van de Ven on Monday night, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were sent off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and will miss Saturday’s Premier League game at Wolves as a result. 

Postecoglou admitted: ‘It’s maybe the first time in my career where we’ve had such a disruption from one game.

‘We’ve lost four or five starters in one game — three of our back four. That’s where we get affected more than anything else. 

‘If it was just Micky, you’d miss him because of the qualities he has. It wouldn’t disrupt us as much. But we’ve got to bring in three different players in a back four, and that’s the big challenge for us.’

The game, arguably one of the strangest games in the history of the Premier League, was elongated by a number of VAR checks regarding goals which were ultimately disallowed, as well as the penalty incident which gave Chelsea their first-half equaliser.

When pressed as to whether the delays had exacerbated the problem of muscle injuries, Postecoglou replied: ‘Absolutely. I am not going to draw a direct correlation to Micky’s injury but I was half-tempted to throw some balls out there for them to kick around. 

‘It’s the reason we have warm-ups, but if you’re going into a game, the fact there was only 47 minutes of game time the other night in whatever it was, 110 [minutes], that is not ideal for the type of athletes we have out there.’

However, Ben Davies is back and available for Spurs ahead of Saturday’s game in Wolverhampton, while Pedro Porro has also been training with the first team.  

When asked if he was tempted to change his outlook for one game, with so many players injured or suspended, Postecoglou quipped: ‘There’s always the temptation, but apart from chocolate, I’m quite good at not giving in to temptations.’

Instead, he said it was an opportunity for a raft of other Spurs players to step up and make their mark – namely Giovani Lo Celso, Bryan Gil, Rodrigo Bentancur, Oliver Skipp and Eric Dier.

The Australian said: ‘That is why they have been training hard. They have been training with us, they haven’t been separate from the group.

Giovani Lo Celso (L) and Bryan Gil are among those with opportunities to impress the manager

Tottenham forward Richarlison has undergone groin surgery to deal with a longstanding issue

‘Everything we’ve done, we’ve done together. They’ve worked hard and for all of them it is about being prepared for when the opportunity comes. 

‘Fair to say the opportunity comes now for a few of them. It’ s up to them now to take that opportunity, but they’ve been preparing themselves for that since the first day.’

He added that ‘one or two’ academy players could get the opportunity to be part of the first team set-up at Wolves because of the number of absentee Spurs players. 

Tottenham sit second in the Premier League going into the weekend’s fixtures, a point behind leaders Manchester City, who themselves face Chelsea on Sunday.  

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