Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham have been handed a triple suspension boost heading into their final Europa League league phase fixture against Elfsborg. Spurs took a big step to securing a place in the knockout phase of the competition after claiming a 3-2 win away at Hoffenheim on Thursday evening.

Going 2-0 up midway inside the first half following goals from James Maddison and Son Heung-min, the German side troubled the north London club early in the second half and reduced the deficit through Anton Stach. Son was to restore Tottenham's two-goal lead in the 77th minute, before Spurs held on to secure a much-needed victory after David Ngabi Mokwa Ntusu powered home a header at the death to set up a tense finale.

Tottenham's win now means they go into next Thursday's home showdown against Elfsborg in the top eight of the league phase and with qualification in their own hands. If Postecoglou's side do indeed secure a top-eight berth then they will avoid a two-legged knockout phase play-off tie in February.

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Spurs have received some good news heading into their fixture against their Swedish counterparts as Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur and Radu Dragusin will all be able to take to the field. The trio went into Thursday's game in Germany knowing that a yellow card would see them sit out the Elfsborg match through suspension after each collecting two bookings apiece in Tottenham's league phase fixtures.

Article 63:02 in UEFA'S Europa League regulations states: "From the first match in the league phase, players and team officials are suspended for the next competition match after three cautions, that did not result in a red card, as well as after any subsequent odd-numbered caution (fifth, seventh, ninth, etc.)."

As there was only one booking in Tottenham's win over Hoffenheim, which went to Kevin Akpoguma after he pulled back Maddison in the first half, Kulusevski, Bentancur and Dragusin are available for the team's final league phase fixture. That certainly comes as good news to Postecoglou as Spurs are not in a position where they can afford any more absences as they were without 14 first-team players for Thursday's game at the PreZero Arena.

However, there is still the risk of the trio facing suspension at a later stage in the competition. Article 63.03 stipulates: "Single yellow cards and pending suspensions are always carried forward to the next stage of the competition, except in the cases described in Article 63.04 below."

Article 63:04: "Exceptionally, all yellow cards and pending yellow-card suspensions expire on completion of the play-offs. They are not carried forward to the league phase. In addition, all yellow cards expire on completion of the quarter-finals. They are not carried forward to the semi-finals."

So, for now, the aforementioned Tottenham trio are going to have to continue to tread carefully as they look to avoid a suspension as the north London club target a long run in the competition.

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