Ange Postecoglou has warned his Tottenham players not to fall into the trap of thinking the Europa League is all that matters.
The Spurs boss is determined to climb out of the Premier League doldrums as James Maddison, Destiny Udogie and Guglielmo Vicario return from injuries against Manchester United on Sunday.
‘We can’t put the cue in the rack in terms of the league and say let’s peter out and finish where we finish,’ said Postecoglou, whose team are 14th one place and two points behind United. ‘That’s not the mindset I want.
‘We need to improve our league position. Where we are I don’t think is reflective of what we have and that’s my role, to get maximum out of the guys we have.
‘We need to move up the table and see where that takes us. I still think it’s really tight. At some point, unless teams are really lucky, the kind of injuries we’ve had will catch up with others as well. Which gives us an opportunity if we can get on a run to move up the table.’
Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner and Wilson Odobert are also close to returning from injuries, which leaves Postecoglou without Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Dominic Solanke, who are all an estimated two to three weeks away.
Ange Postecoglou has urged his Tottenham players not to down tools in the Premier League
His side lie 14th in the table and are highly unlikely to book a spot in any European competition
Yet, Spurs have been mighty in the Europa League, and earned direct qualification to the last 16
Van de Ven’s return from hamstring trouble has been delayed as the club work with outside experts to solve his persistent problems by understanding better the stress his extreme speed puts on his body.
But he and Romero are training regularly. ‘They’re not bed-ridden, they’re not sitting around having treatment,’ said Postecoglou, who hopes to have them back in the first team group next month.
Solanke, ahead of schedule after suffering a knee injury in mid-January, could also be back around the same time.
Returning players together with a rare fixture-free week ahead of the game at home to Manchester United have enabled Tottenham to take time off and refresh tired minds and bodies since their FA Cup exit at Aston Villa on Sunday.
‘We’re still in the same position and we’re still dealing with certain things,’ said Postecoglou. ‘But there’s a natural physical break which allows us to think from here onwards there’s an opportunity to maybe change the course of our season.
‘You can’t ignore what’s happened. We’re still carrying remnants of that, the disappointment of the league season, the disappointment of going out in the semi final of the Carabao Cup, the disappointment of Sunday.
‘You carry that with you. You can’t just extinguish that. But there is an opportunity for a little bit of a reset because it’s coincided with some significant inclusions.’
