Villa reaction | Mason on Bissouma’s impact, updates on Dier and Tanganga
Sun 14 May 2023, 09:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
Ryan Mason recognised the impact of returning Yves Bissouma as we fell to defeat at Villa Park on Satutrday.
The Mali midfielder made his return off the bench in the second half as we tried to turn around a 2-0 deficit. Harry Kane pulled a goal back in the final minute and Heung-Min Son had an equaliser disallowed for offside as it ended 2-1 in an important Premier League clash - the result sees Villa move level on 57 points with us in sixth with two matches remaining.
Yves has been laid low with an ankle problem since our 1-0 win against Manchester City on 5 February, during which time he’s missed 16 matches in all competitions.
Speaking afterwards to SPURSPLAY, Ryan said: “Yves helped, he adds a different dimension to our game. We have missed him. I felt he had an impact, both him and Deki when they came on. Overall, with the ball, we weren’t as sharp as we could have been, the timings of some of our runs could have been better to exploit their high line a bit more, but, ultimately, Villa deserved to win because they took their chances when they came, and I’ve no arguments about that.”
Meanwhile, speaking further in his press conference at Villa Park, Ryan gave an update on Eric Dier and Japhet Tanganga, both missing from the matchday squad. “They’re both injured," he confirmed.
Asked if they had a chance of returning before the end of the season - with only two matches remaining against Brentford at home on Saturday (12.30pm) and a trip to Leeds on the season’s final day (28 May, 4.30pm) - Ryan responded: We're not entirely sure on both of them, but I wasn't able to select either of them today.”
