Destiny Udogie only lasted 45 minutes of the game between Spurs and Manchester United today at Old Trafford, and appeared to be injured in the first half. Now, Ange Postecoglou has delivered a fitness update on his full-back.
Udogie could have come off sooner
It was a great first-half performance from Spurs in general, and Udogie played a big part in that, offering plenty of attacking threat down the left wing.
His game could have been over much sooner than half-time, though, with the young Italian spending some time on the ground and hobbling off the pitch, with Djed Spence waiting in the wings to replace him.
Udogie continued, however, and almost got on the scoresheet soon after when he nearly got on the end of a ball fizzing across the box.
The change was eventually made at half-time, with Spence taking over at left-back and putting in a great performance also. But, there has been concern over Udogie’s injury status as a result of his substitution.
Keeping Udogie on wasn’t worth the risk
Talking to the press after the game (via Football.London), Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou discussed Udogie’s condition, and suggested there is nothing to worry about.
He said: “Yeah, he was ok. I mean he felt something in his quad but he obviously finished the half, but we just thought at half-time no point, we’ve got to be careful about how much we push our players.
“Obviously, Destiny had to come on pretty early on Thursday night, which wasn’t the plan and I would say Micky played probably more than we wanted him to.
“So with those kinds of things, we just got to be really careful, and Djed did well when he came on so I thought it was just wise to take him off but we’ll see how it goes.”
We need Udogie, but Spence is a capable replacement
Djed Spence continues to prove that he is more than capable of playing at left-back, and it’s reassuring to know that he can come in and keep the levels high in that area if Udogie needs to rest.
It’s great news that Udogie is seemingly okay though, as he offers so much down that side and we always look a better team with him in the side.