Postecoglou reveals whether Van de Ven could feature at left-back against Chelsea 

Ange Postecoglou is not considering playing Micky van de Ven at left-back against Chelsea even though Ben Davies has been ruled out of the clash with an injury.

Tottenham are already without their first-choice left-back Destiny Udogie, who is expected to be out of action until the start of pre-season after undergoing surgery on his left quadriceps.

Davies came into the starting eleven for the North London derby but in what has come as a significant blow for the Lilywhites, the Weslhman has now picked up a calf injury and will miss their trip to Stamford Bridge (WION).

In addition, Timo Werner, who came off with an injury in the first half against Arsenal, will also not feature against his former club.

With no recognised left-back available to Postecoglou, some would have wondered if he would move Van de Ven to left-back and bring Radu Dragusin into the team to partner Cristian Romero at centre-back but the Spurs boss has now rejected the possibility.

Could Van de Ven play at left-back for Spurs?

When asked if he is tempted to move the Dutchman to left-back, the 58-year-old told Football.London: “No and it is not the first time this year we’ve been challenged in that way. We’ve lost wingers more than one at once, central defenders more than one at once. It is just the way it goes, strikers too. We’ll deal with it.

“It is unfortunate for Benny. It is understandable because it is not just not having a game for two weeks, he hasn’t played to start a game for ages because we just haven’t had the fixtures where we can rotate the squad to keep everyone in good shape.

“Again, we’ve thrown him in after not playing for quite a while. It is almost inevitable that he will pick up an injury. Disappointing for him because he was looking to finally getting his opportunity over the next course of games but it doesn’t work out. We’ll find a solution for that position as we have before.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Postecoglou evidently does not want to disrupt the centre-back pairing in order to fix the left-back issue. This admission by the Australian pretty much confirms that Emerson Royal will start at left-back at Stamford Bridge, which is far from ideal.

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