Ange Postecoglou makes Tottenham Europa League squad decision vs Rangers amid injury crisis

All eyes will be on the Tottenham team Ange Postecoglou names for Thursday evening's Europa League tie against Rangers. In the midst of an injury crisis at present, Spurs are not in a position where they can rotate a large chunk of their first-team regulars due to the limited numbers at the head coach's disposal.

However, that maybe isn't a bad thing as it means the boss cannot make wholesale changes and he has no option but to name a strong XI as Tottenham look to get back on track after some poor results of late. Spurs did welcome back Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero to the team for last Sunday's game against Chelsea but the duo have since returned to the treatment room after coming off in the 4-3 defeat.

Speaking to the media in Glasgow on Wednesday evening, Postecoglou gave an update on the injury front heading into the showdown at Ibrox. "Not much better to be fair… obviously with the weekend’s fall-out Romero and Van De Ven, we’re still getting some clarity around their prognosis, but both have picked up injuries that will keep them out again.

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"That’s disappointing for us because we’re thin on numbers but we’ve had to deal with that for quite a while now. Everyone else from the weekend got through OK. [Rodrigo] Bentancur is obviously available so at least we get him back."

When pressed on the reports from South America that Romero faces a six-week spell on the sidelines, the Australian said: "At the moment we’re still getting more information on both the guys and I wouldn’t put any time line on it yet."

Despite missing a handful of players, Postecoglou can still field a strong team against Rangers in the Europa League. The head coach will also have more choice on his substitutes' bench as UEFA rules allow teams to name a total of 12 substitutes rather than the usual nine in the Premier League.

That in turn will present the head coach with the opportunity to add some of the club's talented academy players to his matchday squad. In the team's previous European game against Roma at the end of November, Callum Olusesi, Maeson King, Lucas Williams-Barnett and Malachi Hardy were included for the match against the Giallorossi.

The quartet are all part of the club's B list for the competition, which is in addition to the main 25-man squad that they had to name in early September. The B list does increase the options available to a head coach on a matchday and Spurs have so far added a number of names to it since kicking off their European fixtures against Qarabag.

Club-trained players who were born on or after January 1, 2003 are allowed to be considered for selection but they must have been with Tottenham for an uninterrupted period of a minimum of two years to be eligible. Europa League participants are allowed to register an unlimited amount of players on the B list during the campaign, with the necessary paperwork having to be completed no later than midnight (CET) on the day before a game.

Despite a spate of injuries wreaking havoc in N17 right now, Postecoglou has opted against adding any further players to the B list for Thursday evening's game in Glasgow. As thing stand, 11 players feature on the B list, including the aforementioned Olusesi, King, Williams-Barnett and Hardy.

Luca Gunter, Alfie Dorrington, Dante Cassanova, Mikey Moore, Tyrese Hall, Oyindamola Ajayi and Will Lankshear complete the 11 players on the list. Players such as Dorrington, Cassanova, King and Hardy will certainly all be hoping to make the cut at Rangers with Radu Dragusin the only fully-fit centre-back available to Postecoglou right now.

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