Postecoglou on whether Van de Ven and Maddison could return in early January

Ange Postecoglou is still unsure of an exact return date for James Maddison and Micky Van de Ven, both of whom have been out injured since that shocking match at home to Chelsea. 

Van de Ven went down clutching his hamstring after chasing back to defend a Chelsea attack, while Maddison turned his ankle in the opposition box.

As two of Tottenham’s top performers in the early stages of the season, it came as a huge blow to Postecoglou, and he is arguably still struggling to replace the duo in his starting XI.

When will Maddison and Van de Ven return?

In his press conference ahead of Saturday’s game against Everton, Postecoglou was asked whether Van de Ven and Maddison are likely to return in early January or later in the month.

The Spurs boss admitted that the central defender is probably ahead of Maddison in the race to return, but things often accelerate or delay in the final stages of recovery.

He said (Football London): “Hard to say. They’re both in rehab and neither of them are anywhere near training with the first team at the moment.

“If you look at timelines, Micky and Madders did it in pretty much in the same game. Micky might be just ahead of schedule in terms of with Madders. Both kind of January and Bentancur fairly similar.

“It’s not about trying to not give out information, these things kind of either accelerate or get delayed when you get into the final phase. Until I see them out with us, it’s hard for me to say.”

Spurs Web Opinion: 

Injuries are always going to be a thing, especially with the number of games players are forced to play. It’s more about Spurs creating a squad for Postecoglou where he has two players he loves for each and every position.