Vitesse v Spurs – team news

Nuno Espirito Santo will utilise the full squad for our UEFA Europa Conference League group match at Vitesse Arnhem on Thursday evening (5.45pm UK).

Speaking after training on Wednesday, and before flying out to Holland, Nuno gave us an update on the fitness of Matt Doherty and Ryan Sessegnon and confirmed that he will be making changes to the squad that performed so impressively in victory at Newcastle United on Sunday.

Nuno told Spurs TV: “We decided the best idea is to try to compete well tomorrow, and at the same time, leave players here to prepare and work on other aspects that we need to improve in our game, so we go game by game in the high standards that we want.”

On Matt, injured on Republic of Ireland duty in the latest international break and Ryan, injured in the September international break, Nuno added: “They are getting better. Unfortunately, they cannot join the group yet, but it’s a matter of time before we have good news.

“Like I’ve said, we’re going to need all the players. Unfortunately, Matt was injured on international duty, Sess, he’s out for a while, it’s going to take longer, but I’m positive that Matt can join us next week.”

Speaking in his press conference, Nuno added: “Today, we prepared with the players who are going to start tomorrow. Then we had a good session with the players who are going to stay, and they are going to work tomorrow. Then they will join with the group on Friday.

“It’s a situation that we decided in this specific week because we see this as the best way for us to go, to compete well tomorrow and to compete well (at West Ham) on Sunday. It’s a squad and we have to make decisions – who goes, who stays, who needs rest, who needs days to recover better, all things we have to manage inside all the squad.”