Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke has shed light on how his fitness is progressing and how far away he is from being 100 per cent.
While Solanke’s return has come as a huge boost for Tottenham, Thomas Frank has admitted that the striker needs time to get back to his best.
The Spurs head coach also started the England international for the Lilywhites’ away trip to Burnley, and he is expected to stay in the starting eleven against Eintracht Frankfurt.
The centre-forward is keen to make up for lost time as the Lilywhites seek to seal direct qualification to the round of 16 stage of the Champions League.
Dominic Solanke wants to play big role in making this a successful season for Tottenham
The 28-year-old has confessed that he is desperate to do all he can to help the team after spending six months on the sidelines.
The striker admitted that he is now feeling good after some training sessions and minutes under his belt and revealed that he is not far away from returning to 100 per cent.
When asked how difficult it was to spend six months on the sidelines, Solanke said in his pre-match press conference (via Tottenham’s official website): “Yeah, it’s always difficult being injured, personally, but obviously it’s always hard to watch the team and know that you can’t really help and do anything to change that.
“But yeah, I’m back fit now and like I mentioned, I feel good, so I want to do everything I can to help the team. We’re only just past the halfway mark and we’ve still got a lot of games to play and I still believe we can still go on to have a good season. So obviously I’m hoping to play a big role in that, but we’re all looking for the positives.”
When asked how close he is to being the player that he wants to be, the striker responded: “Hopefully soon. I feel good, I feel fit. All of my injury worries have gone away. I was out for quite a long time. I’m obviously not going to get straight up to fitness and sharpness straight away, but I’ve been training with the team for a bit now and a few games under my belt. I’m feeling good.”
Solanke admits Spurs squad has good memories of Frankfurt
The Lilywhites will have pleasant memories of their last trip to Deutsche Bank Park as they secured a victory to seal passage to the Europa League semifinals.
Solanke scored the game’s only goal from the penalty spot, and he insisted that he and his teammates would take confidence from their win back in April.
When asked about the 1-0 win at Frankfurt in the Europa League last term, the Tottenham man said: “We’re seeing tomorrow as a positive. Last year we came here and got a great result, and we’re looking to do that again tomorrow. It’s a great opportunity for us to finish in the top eight, and yeah, we’re looking forward to the game more than anything.
“Last year, we weren’t as good as we wanted to be in the league, and we had the European competition to look forward to as well, and that was a huge game in our season. We obviously want to win cups at this club, and I think, like you mentioned, that was a huge part of winning that. We’ve got fond memories of it, it was a close game, and we managed to just win the game and then go on to win the trophy. We haven’t got anything but good things to say about that game.”