Ange's update on Vicario recovery time frame

Ange Postecoglou has given an indication to when we could expect Guglielmo Vicario return to action.

An ever-present for us in the Premier League since his summer 2023 switch from Empoli, Guglielmo underwent surgery on Monday after it was discovered that he had fractured his ankle in Saturday's win over Manchester City.

And Ange has now confirmed that, while he cannot put a specific time frame to the goalkeeper's recovery, he has admitted it will be months, not weeks, that our number one will be out of action.

"I guess it was a bit of a shock, first of all," Ange explained. "We saw he'd picked up the injury during the game. We saw him at half time, but there was no doubt about him continuing. You digest that and then, post-game, he was sore but, you're kind of like, he's just played 60 minutes with a sore ankle, but we'll tape it up and go again.

"Externally people now realise, it's a testament to him as a person. He's as tough as nails and tough as they come. The fact that he played at that level for 60 minutes with a fractured ankle was quite outstanding. The shock of it wears off and then you have to process that he's going to be missing for a while.

"Knowing him, he'll push the limits of how long that is. Also, knowing him, you'll get daily updates about that on his Instagram!

"It's a big blow, and for him personally, because he was having an outstanding season for us and really growing as a leader within the group but we've dealt with setbacks before and we'll deal with this one."

In terms of a time frame, Ange said: "It's not going to be weeks. It'll be months. He's had his surgery and, you know with surgery, there's certain timelines and because it's Vic... I don't like giving timelines so early in the process as something like that as it puts undue pressure on the player and some expectations. I think once we're past the rehab stage and he starts getting out (onto the training pitch), we'll have a clearer idea."