Tottenham took on Newcastle in the Premier League, but the side were without key defender Micky van de Ven.
The Netherlands international has been a key player for the Lilywhites since he moved to the club last summer.
Ange Postecoglou’s system has worked perfectly with Van de Ven, who is comfortable on the ball but has the recovery speed required of the high defensive line.
It came as little coincidence that the good start Spurs had in the Premier League last season came to a crashing halt once the 23-year-old suffered a serious injury against Chelsea.
With a fresh start to this campaign, there were hopes that a fully fit Van de Ven next to Cristian Romero would bring about better results.
However, the Tottenham centre-back was a surprise omission from the squad when they took on Newcastle.
Ange Postecoglou discusses Micky van de Ven injury
Heading into the trip to St. James’ Park, there were some concerns over the fitness of Van de Ven for the match.
It’s something that was later revealed when he missed out on the matchday squad in the north-east, coming as a huge blow to the side.
Discussing the reason for his absence, Tottenham boss Postecoglou told Sky Sports: “Micky trained this week but the international break he wasn’t 100 per cent.
“Part of me wanted to give Radu [Dragusin] a run-out so we go with him today.
“It’s nothing serious, we have a heavy programme after the international break so we’ll need all our back four.
“So getting Radu back today is a positive thing for us.”
Radu Dragusin finally handed Tottenham chance
So with Van de Ven out for the match, Radu Dragusin finally has his chance to seal a place in the Tottenham side.
The Romanian international has struggled to get into the team since he made the move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from Genoa in January.
The 22-year-old was given just nine appearances last season, while only four of those were in the starting lineup.
Comparatively, the clash against Newcastle will be the first time that Dragusin is given a run out for this season.
With plenty of promise, he will be hopeful that it’s finally a chance to seal a place in the team moving forward.
But with so many quality options available to Postecoglou, it’s clearly tough to leave one of the three centre-backs out of action.
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