Presser points | Galatasaray vs Spurs | Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou spoke to the media at Galatasaray's Rams Park ahead of our UEFA Europa League clash against the Turkish giants in Istanbul on Thursday evening (5.45pm UK).

Here's what he had to say...

Into the lion's den

First up, it was put to Ange that the atmosphere at Galatasaray - nicknamed Aslan (The Lion) - is renowned, so were there any fears about putting our younger players into that atmosphere?

Ange: "No, I'm sure they're all looking forward to it. That's why you play football. I keep saying, especially this generation, a lot of them experienced what football is like without supporters, we certainly didn't like that through COVID. We're looking forward to it. It's a fantastic stadium, the supporters create an unbelievable atmosphere here and they love the big European nights. They're a very, very good team so it's exactly the sort of game you want to be involved in in Europe, whether young or old, irrespective of the role you have, you look forward to it."

Galatasaray

Ange was asked by local journalists about the threat of the home team...

Ange: "Galatasaray are a very good team, very, very good individual players, that's what you expect when you play against top European sides. We play Premier League, so we're facing top opponents every week, top individual players, we understand what that's about. It's a good test for us, we've started well in the Europa League, results have been good, home and away, and we want to continue that. They score a lot of goals from set pieces, they're an attacking threat especially with the players they have in the front third. We'll have to work hard defensively, at different times. You always do when you play away in Europe. Davinson Sanchez, it will be good to see him again. He was at the club when I first arrived, a very good professional, always trained very hard, good guy, looking forward to seeing him tomorrow."

Team news

Ange was asked for a team news update...

Ange: "From the weekend, Richarlison unfortunately injured his hamstring, we're still getting all the information, but he'll out for while. Romero... nothing too serious, hopefully, so still a chance for weekend. Timo has been carrying a bit of a groin complaint, which is still there, so he didn't travel. Mikey Moore picked up bit of a virus yesterday, so we left him at home as well. Everyone else who is fit and eligible is here."

Rotation

Ange was asked if he might rotate the team for the fixture...

Ange: "Through the Europa League, we've rotated the team as we've seen, we're playing three games a week at the moment, have been since the start of the year and we've used pretty much all the squad, but that's worked well because it means players have come in and they're fit, because they're playing football regularly. We'll make changes tomorrow night but, again, it's about making sure we have a team out there we believe can match the opposition and get a result for us."

More on Galatasaray

Ange was asked more about Galatasaray, their threat from set pieces and in attacking areas...

Ange: "When you look at Galatasaray, they have a lot of threat in the front third, their attacking players are very good individually, they're a strong team physically, so we'll have to match the attacking threats they have with the way we play. As I said, particularly here, at Galatasaray's home stadium, with the fans behind them, there is a great energy in all their games. It's a great test for us, but one we're looking forward to. We're in good form, we're playing good football ourselves and hopefully it should be a good game."