Wed 09 December 2020, 15:07
Tottenham HotspurTanguy Ndombele is back for our UEFA Europa League Group J decider against Royal Antwerp on Thursday evening.
Jose Mourinho said the in-form midfielder was touch and go all the way in terms of being fit for the north London derby but, having missed out on Sunday, is now ready to face the Belgians. We need a win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to leapfrog Royal Antwerp at the top of the group.
Jose also hinted that Serge Aurier had a problem and that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg would be rested and gave an update on Erik Lamela, who last featured against Brighton on 1 November.
“Tanguy was a doubt until almost the last minute before Arsenal, now it’s three or four days later, he’s okay,” reported Jose after training on Wednesday.
“Serge had a problem before Arsenal and he’s still not completely recovered. Pierre, no problems. It’s just the fact that he’s playing every match, he played three matches of 90 minutes last week, played Thursday in Austria, Arsenal, and now is his time, because we always try to rest one player or another, and this time was for him.”
Erik was absent when television cameras were capturing training, but Jose explained: “Erik came out on the pitch after the cameras left. He was working in the gym during the period we had cameras, but we have nothing to hide. After that, he came to the pitch and he’s started training progressively.”
Asked if he was getting worried about Erik’s time out, Jose added: “Yes, I was worried, we need every option available for this difficult month and January, that’s not going to be easy at all with so many matches and so many competitions, hopefully Lamela will be back for that.”
