Antonio Conte has revealed that he is hopeful of having a fully fit squad ahead of Arsenal’s visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on January 15.
The Tottenham head coach has had to do without several key players since the restart with Rodrigo Bentancur, Richarlison and Lucas Moura joined on the sidelines by Dejan Kulusevski during the last two matches against Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.
In addition, the Italian was also without the suspended Yves Bissouma for the trip to Selhurst Park.
Despite their absentees, Tottenham delivered a statement performance and came away with a morale-boosting 4-0 win against Palace, which was much needed on the back of the loss to Villa.
Spurs will now begin their FA Cup campaign with a clash against Portsmouth on Saturday before squaring off against the two current title favourites, Arsenal and Manchester City, in back-to-back matches.
Conte told Football.London after his side’s win yesterday: “We need to continue this way and face every situation positive or negative with great spirit and character. I think this period and also before the start of the World Cup, we faced a period with great difficulties for injuries.
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“Now in a short period, we can have a whole squad available and for me, it’s very important because to play against Arsenal and City and in the Champions League with all the players available, it will be very important for us and also to understand our level compared with these teams.”
The Tottenham boss reiterated that the win over Palace was particularly crucial, given the injuries that his side are dealing with, and admitted that he is hopeful of having all of his injured stars back for the all-important North London Derby.
He added: “Today is an important win, as you said, we know after Saturday in the FA Cup we face Arsenal and Manchester City, the two title contenders for this Premier League. To arrive with a good win is really important.
“My hope is to recover players who are in this moment injured because we are talking about important players. I hope in these 10 days to have the possibility in the next game against Arsenal to have all of the players available.”
Spurs Web Opinion
With a fully fit squad, there is no reason that we cannot get a result against either Arsenal or Manchester City. Having Bentancur and Kulusevski back in the starting eleven and having options like Bissouma and Richarlison to turn to on the bench, makes us a formidable force.
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