Ange Postecoglou has named two Tottenham Hotspur players who will not be on the flight to Australia later this week as the side look to begin their pre-season tour.
Tottenham jet off on Friday as part of their preparations to face Premier League rivals West Ham United in Perth on July 18th and will be without Rodrigo Bentancur, as expected with the Uruguayan continuing his rehabilitation following the anterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee which he suffered at Leicester City in February.
Bentancur is not expected to be back in action until around November at the earliest (Sky Sports) and has a few months to go before he can look to force his way into Ange Postecoglou’s new-look side.
The 26-year-old will be joined at Hotspur Way by Fraser Forster, who also sits out the trip due to a back problem. The goalkeeper saw out the remainder of the season between the sticks after Hugo Lloris sustained a muscular issue during the 6-1 thrashing at Newcastle United.
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Bentancur and Forster will not travel on pre-season tour
Postecoglou stopped short of naming any other players who may be in jeopardy of not getting on the flight, with his side also set to play matches against Leicester City and AS Roma in Thailand and Singapore, respectively.
“He told Football.London: “We do have a couple, Rodrigo Bentancur is still out. Fraser Forster has a back injury and he won’t travel. There’s a couple of others. We’ll see how they go.
“I’d really like as many of the group as possible to go to begin building that team and camaraderie.”
Tottenham round off their pre-season campaign with a friendly against Shakhtar Donetsk in north London on August 6th.
SpursWeb Opinion
It is a shame that Bentancur cannot make the trip to be part of the team-building under Postecoglou, however, the midfielder will be working hard back at the club’s training ground to be able to return as soon as possible.
It remains to be seen whether Hugo Lloris will be part of the travelling party, or whether the Frenchman will be allowed to remain back to complete his exit.
It is more likely that it will be Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman who see game time alongside new signing Guglielmo Vicario.
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