Ange Postecoglou hints at Micky van de Ven Tottenham return date and reveals Man City injury doubt

Ange Postecoglou has revealed that Cristian Romero is "definitely" a doubt for Tottenham's game against Man City on Saturday evening. It means that Spurs could possibly be without first-choice centre-back duo Romero and Micky van de Ven for the game at the Etihad Stadium.

Romero did come off in the recent 4-1 win over Aston Villa with a foot injury but managed to return to action the following weekend for the home defeat against Ipswich Town. Heading off on international duty to represent Argentina, the World Cup winner only played 45 minutes of last week's 2-1 defeat to Paraguay as he was substituted at half-time.

Reports in his homeland claimed that he went off with pain in the same foot that he injured in Tottenham's match against Aston Villa. The 26-year-old, who this week became a father for the second time, was subsequently not available for Argentina's 1-0 win over Peru on Wednesday.

Romero is now a doubt for Saturday's trip to Man City, thus possibly leaving him in the treatment room with Van de Ven at present. The Dutchman last featured for Tottenham in last month's Carabao Cup win against City but was only involved for 14 minutes of the contest after sustaining a hamstring issue.

Postecoglou indicated in the days after that his centre-back would make his return after the international break, although no date or game was set in stone for a possible comeback. Heading into this weekend's showdown against Man City, Postecoglou has revealed that Van de Ven is still "a couple of weeks away" and that his return could possibly come in the middle of December.

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“Happy for Cristian and his wife on the birth of their baby girl," said Postecoglou in an interview with Sky Sports. "He is still not 100 per cent so he is a doubt definitely for the weekend. Everyone else from the internationals got through well.

“Micky is still a couple of weeks away. He is on the grass training but he is still a couple of weeks away. We’re hoping by the middle of December he is back and available to play.”

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