Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou says the club are “working hard” to try and bring in some recruits this month to allow his injury-hit squad to compete.
Spurs face Newcastle on Saturday lunchtime with Postecoglou expected to be without some players due to an illness problem.
He is already without defenders Micky van de Ven, Ben Davies and Cristian Romero, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and attackers Richarlison, Wilson Odobert and Mikey Moore.
To add to the problems, midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur is suspended on Saturday and left-back Destiny Udogie has been ruled out for six weeks with a hamstring injury.
Postecoglou said: “It’s not a question of pushing but the club is working hard to try and get help for the playing group. The club is working hard on this.
“January is not an easy month, it’s not an easy time to bring people in particularly quickly. At the same time, we want to do what is best for us rather than panic and call on people who are right for us.
“Richarlison and Mikey [Moore] are the next two taxis out of the row – hopefully next week at some point. Well [Davies], [Micky] Van de Ven and [Cristian] Romero around the same time, that is to say at the end of January.
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Tottenham have won just three of their last 13 games and were beaten by Liverpool just before Christmas. They have an EFL Cup semi-final against the Reds next week, but the Australian has not put his finger on the cause of their injury problems.
He said: “I think it’s probably a combination of different things. The number of matches, the way we play.
“I guess the challenge for us is that a lot of our injuries are repeat injuries, which is what we’re looking at. I don’t think it’s unique to us. I think you see it everywhere in clubs, but we have been affected in a more extreme way. [Guglielmo] Vicario, it’s not a muscle injury – it’s a long-term injury but it kind of exasperates the situation we’re in.
‘Tuchel will be impressed’
New England manager Thomas Tuchel will be in the stands for Saturday’s game, with striker Dominic Solanke set to impress.
The big signing from Bournemouth has scored 10 goals for Spurs this season and Postecoglou is confident the new boss will like what he sees.
“Dom [Solanke] has been exceptional for us,” he said.
“He scored goals but his all-round game and his ability to help the team in all aspects of our football – defensively, link-up play, always being present in the box, really smart in his movements and really carrying that position on his return without help or rest.
“That says a lot about his character and the kind of person he is. I can’t speak highly enough of him. The load he has had to carry for us over the last couple of months without much help from us to allow him to recover and yet he is still putting in a huge performance every week – I have no doubt Thomas Tuchel will be impressed by him. .”
