Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to secure a sixth consecutive win in all competitions when they head to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
Ange Postecoglou’s charges have turned a corner since their North London derby defeat, embarking on a solid winning run.
Tottenham ran out 3-0 winners at Manchester United last week, and they have also made it two wins out of two in the Europa League.
Spurs will be up against a Brighton side that began their campaign brightly but have since suffered a downturn in form.
Fabian Hurzeler’s side won their first two games and were unbeaten in their first five matches, but are now four games without a win.
The Spurs News looks at the key points from Postecoglou’s Friday pre-match press conference, as per football.london.
Tottenham team news and Son Heung-min availability
Postecoglou says he expects Tottenham captain Son Heung-min to miss out as he continues to nurse a muscle issue.
Son pulled up in last week’s Europa League win over Qarabag and missed the victories over Manchester United and Ferencvaros.
However, Postecoglou expects Destiny Udogie to be back for the game after he came off at half-time at Old Trafford and didn’t travel for the Europa League clash.
“out of the guys who sort of stayed back, Destiny we think will be okay,” said Postecoglou.
“Sonny unlikely, he’s pushing hard but I just don’t think the turnaround will be quick enough for him to be available at this stage. And then that’s it, the others are kind of long-term.”
Where Postecoglou sees Tottenham 100 games into his tenure
“Many wouldn’t have said I’d make 50 mate,” joked Postecoglou. “Even when I was on about 46!
“Look, obviously as managers we, there’s always a ticking clock against our tenure. Every time you reach a milestone it’s always an indication that people believe in what you’re trying to do.
It has flown by to be fair, obviously 15, 16 months, 50 games but I enjoy every one of them and hopefully, the next 50 are ones where we can make a real impact.”
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Lessons learned from last year’s 4-2 defeat at Brighton
Postecoglou admitted the 4-2 defeat last December was a bit baffling for him, but acknowledged Spurs began the game badly.
“It was a curious one,” he said. “It was one of those periods where we were a bit disrupted in terms of player availability and stuff.
“We started the game really poorly, really open, but by the end of it, it could have been 4-4, 5-4. We didn’t handle the occasion well, particularly early in the game. It was indicative of our season.
“There was some good stuff in there that got overshadowed by stuff we really struggled with at times last year in terms of our consistency of performance.
“So far, in the away games we’ve had this year we’ve played really well… we’re handling those situations better. And I think we’re going to have to at the weekend too.”
Archie Gray’s versatility
Postecoglou said: “He takes in information really well. Training, he is constantly looking for more and more information which he helps.
“And then he just has a great temperament. He seems to take things in his stride and not let it affect him.
“I’m not going to just put him in different positions at the moment we are using him where we need him. I think hopefully that gives him confidence in how much I trust him.
“Eventually, we will settle him into an area but him playing at the moment, he has played Carabao Cup game away, two European games, exposure in the Premier League already in the first 10 games of his Tottenham career which I think is brilliant for us.”
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