Ange Postecoglou is facing a selection dilemma ahead of Sunday’s match against Wolves. With no senior centre-backs available, Alfie Dorrington should be Tottenham’s only viable option to play alongside Archie Gray.
No available centre-backs for Tottenham
When Ben Davies went down holding his hamstring against Bournemouth, Spurs fans knew their already tough month of December was not going to get any easier.
Archie Gray has taken to playing centre-back as admirably as any of his performances this year. Technically assured and confident in his actions, only errors in positioning and defensive anticipation have highlighted the 18-year-old’s lack of experience.
After picking up a knock against Nottingham Forest, Radu Dragusin may now be unavailable to play alongside Gray against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Exacerbated by Ben Davies aggravating his injury during training, this now means there may be no available centre-backs for the Premier League fixture.
Tottenham have to gamble on Alfie Dorrington
With potentially no senior defenders available, Ange Postecoglou has a limited number of unideal options for Sunday’s defensive line-up.
While the Nottingham Forest match ended with Yves Bissouma partnering Gray, Postecoglou inferred this would not be an option he believes to be suitable in his press conference. Postecoglou could opt for Rodrigo Bentancur, however, he is as equally inexperienced at centre-back as Bissouma.
This leaves 19-year-old Alfie Dorrington as the only option to play alongside Gray. Dorrington made his senior debut from the bench in Spurs’ 5-0 win against Southampton. He has yet to start a senior fixture and Postecoglou will not relish throwing Dorrington into a Premier League game in this manner.
However, once again against Forest, the midfield appeared lethargic after extensive overuse and realistically, Tottenham will need all of their available midfielders to share the minutes to maintain energy throughout the game and provide cover for the team’s inexperienced defence.
Injury held Dorrington back, but he is ready for senior football
After a hugely successful Premier League 2 campaign last season, Alfie Dorrington unfortunately suffered an injury which required surgery and led to him missing the entirety of pre-season.
This kind of setback inhibited Dorrington’s access to the first team as well as a potential loan, which makes it hard to appreciate that Dorrington is ready to play senior football.
Playing for Tottenham’s senior team was likely never on the cards for this season, but injury crises have a way of granting opportunities to players before their time.
It will be a baptism of fire, but Dorrington will likely relish the opportunity and may end up being a short-term solution to Spurs’ injury crisis before hopefully the squad is reinforced in January.