Tottenham receive big Micky van de Ven boost for the international break

Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou find out whether Micky van de Ven will be linking up with his national team as the Netherlands squad for their upcoming Nations League fixtures has been announced.

The pacy Tottenham Hotspur centre-back has hardly played any football over the last four months, with the club managing his hamstring issues very carefully.

Claims have been made over recent months that Spurs need to speak to experts about changing Van de Ven’s running style in order to reduce his chances of injury.

It was revealed that the Spurs medical staff have a new warm-up routine for Micky van de Ven’s hamstrings, which was spotted before he came on for a 30-minute cameo in the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth last Sunday.

Will Micky van de Ven link up with his national side?

Van de Ven returned to the Tottenham starting lineup against Alkmaar on Thursday and played 60 minutes of football before making way for Archie Gray.

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou would have been pleased to see the 23-year-old emerge unscathed from the game, and he has now got some further good news about the centre-back.

It has now been confirmed that van de Ven will be spending the next two weeks at Hotspur Way, with the defender not being called up for the Netherlands squad for their upcoming two-legged Nations League quarterfinal against Spain.

That means that the former Wolfsburg man can spend the international break under the watchful eyes of the Spurs coaching and medical staff as they aim to get him back up to full speed.

Cristian Romero will link up with his national side

However, van de Ven’s centre-back partner, Cristian Romero has been called up to the Argentina squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil.

Postecoglou insisted last week that he had no issues with Romero’s call-up, but the Australian would perhaps be hoping that Lionel Scaloni manages the defender’s minutes, given the fitness woes that the Tottenham vice-captain has had over recent months.

Tottenham’s next five matches in all competitions are shaping up to what could be a season-defining handful of fixtures.

• READ MORE: England Squad: Djed Spence, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke call-up update