Presser points | Spurs vs Newcastle | Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Friday, ahead of our Premier League clash against Newcastle United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday (12.30pm UK).

Here's what he had to say...

Ange on how he's used extra days with the squad without a midweek game...

"The main of driver in that was recovery rather than anything else, we’ve obviously been on a fairly lengthy cycle of games every two or three days. It gave the guys a couple of days off then get back into it."

On our latest team news...

"Destiny, with his hamstring, it looks around the six-week mark for him. We lose (Rodrigo) Bentancur suspended, none of the injured ones are back yet. We had a bit of an illness bug running through the squad as well, so a few missing training, but that’s alright, we’ll be okay."

On the January transfer window...

"The club is working hard to try to get some help for the playing group and it’s no secret, we need to bolster our numbers up a little bit, so the club's working hard on that. January is not an easy month, not an easy time to bring people in, and at the same time we still want to make sure we do what we think is the best thing for us rather than panic and bring people in who aren’t going to be a suitable fit."

On the challenge of facing in-form Newcastle...

"Newcastle will be a good test, good side, we always have a good games against them, we're always close. They are in good form at the moment, they’re in a good period and it's also a good chance for us. At the same time, we haven't had the results we want, but we’re still capable, we’ve got quality and we’ve done enough in games to win them, so we’re going to go out there with the same mindset."

On Dominic Solanke's form...

"Dom has been outstanding for us. He has scored goals but it is just his all-round game and his capacity to help the team in all aspects of our football - defensively, link-up play, still being a presence in the box, really intelligent with his movement and really carrying that position on his back with no help, no rest. It says an enormous amount about his character and the person he is. I can’t speak highly enough of him. The load he has had to carry for us over the last two months without a lot of help and from us being able to allow him to recover and still every week he puts in a massive performance."

On Yang Min-Hyeok...

"He is still very young and has come in from the other side of the world where the level of competition is nowhere near what he is going to face here. We will just give him time to adapt. It helps that Sonny is here and kind of helps him around when he is at the club and outside the club. We are just trying to get him settled early and give him the chance to settle in. No real plan, we will just take it as it goes with him and see how he settles in."

On muscle injuries in the squad, and if they are due to playing more matches or our style of play...

"It's probably a combination of all of them. At the same time, there is also an individual thing involved there as well. I think it is a combination of all of those things. The amount of fixtures. The way we play. I guess the challenging bit for us is that quite a few of them have been re-injuries which we're looking at. I don't think it's unique to us. I think you're seeing that across the board with a lot of clubs, it's just that we've been hit a bit more extreme."

On Guglielmo Vicario's progress after fracturing his ankle in November...

"He's on schedule... when it's a fracture, there's a set schedule for him being in a boot, how much weight bearing he can do, and then getting clearances along the way, so he's still on the same timelines of the end of February, nothing's really changed in the short term."

On Sergio Reguilon...

"He played last week and it just depends on the situation. He's been available all year, but obviously at the moment we've got quite a lot of our defenders out and we've lost Destiny now for a period of time. It's going to be a while, so yes, Reggy, I'm sure will get more opportunities."

On reflections of 2024...

"I know right now people don’t recognise it as anything, but we finished fifth last year. We finished eighth the year before, and people keep forgetting that. I didn’t pick up a club that finished third or fifth. Even though the back end of last year was a struggle for us, I thought it was still a real positive season on the back of what we had to do in terms of player turnover, because we lost some significant players. I enjoyed 2024, it was a big challenge for us and yes it didn’t finish well, but that’s the case for every year - all of us have challenges within it. I guess going into 2025 now it is about making this year better than the last, but that should be the aim every year."

On the clear week helping the squad's energy levels...

"It helps, but it is not going to totally refuel the tank in terms of where we want to be because we’re still dealing with a small number of players. It is different if we had a full squad because again we’re going into a really busy period, January is massively busy for us with big games and it will not be long before it banks up again, but it was good for the players to have a couple of days, as much mentally as anything else to clear their heads and get away from the club to spend time with their families. From that perspective, it has definitely been beneficial and they are a very, very resilient group. They are not willing to lay down, they are fighting tooth and nail to make sure we turn this around and it’s a credit to them."

On potential selection dilemmas with our Carabao Cup semi-final, first leg against Liverpool next week...

"No, not really, because it’s not like I’ve got massive selection issues at the moment. It’s kind of whoever is fit, we get out there and whoever is fit, we’ll try get out for the next game. It's a big game for us tomorrow. From a league context, we need to start picking up points for sure and winning these games, so all our focus is on that."