Manager Ange Postecoglou has shared that one Tottenham player is just waiting to go and prove himself after working very hard in training recently.
Spurs gearing up for Villa clash on Sunday
The Lilywhites, after a third international break in as many months, are gearing up to take on in-form Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tomorrow.
Amid an injury and suspension crisis sweeping N17, Spurs could hardly have asked for a more tough next few games, with Premier League champions Man City awaiting Postecoglou after Villa.
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It's one game at a time for Spurs, though, and Unai Emery's side are next in line to face a Tottenham side who are currently suffering with various absentee issues.
Star defender Cristian Romero will serve the second of a three-game suspension and is set to be unavailable, while Postecoglou is unable to reintroduce star summer signings James Maddison and Micky van de Ven until after the new year.
Ashley Phillips, Manor Solomon, Ivan Perisic, Richarlison and Ryan Sessegnon are also unavailable, with Pape Matar Sarr also a doubt to play against Villa (Postecoglou's latest press conference).
The good news is that left-back Destiny Udogie is back and ready to play, easing the burden somewhat, but a win against Emery's men is now looking like a pretty almighty task.
Spurs come in to the game off the back of two consecutive losses in the Premier League, while Villa have lost just once in their last five with three victories in that time.
Skipp aching to prove himself at Spurs
A lot of the noise before this clash has centred around how Postecoglou will line up without an array of key players.
Tottenham's last shaken-up eleven fell to a dramatic 2-1 defeat away to Wolves, and their manager will be determined to set things right against a much tougher opponent on paper.
Midfielder Oliver Skipp, who's started just one league game all season, hasn't exactly been able to get a look-in ahead of Sarr or Yves Bissouma.
However, Postecoglou's woes appear set to hand Skipp a potential opportunity, especially considering Bissouma will be suspended as well.
Skipp has actually been working very hard in training in an effort to impress, with Postecoglou saying as much in his latest press conference.
"Skippy has been working hard in training," said the Spurs boss (via football.london).
"He’s obviously one of the guys who has stayed back with us — we’ve had four or five. He’s done a lot of good work, the last couple of weeks. He’s working hard, waiting for his opportunity. But that doesn’t mean he can’t make an impact — and he has made an impact coming on during games and helping us.
"The challenge for him, for all the guys, is there’s no doubt the way we are at the moment with the numbers, they’ll all get an opportunity to play. It’s about what they do with that."
The 23-year-old started 18 league games last season, playing fairly regularly under Antonio Conte, but his campaign was during a loan spell at Norwich City in 2020/2021.
Skipp started 44 Championship matches and played a key role on their way to promotion.
