Ange Postecoglou provides Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven Tottenham injury update

Ange Postecoglou has provided an update on Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven after the Tottenham duo limped off against Chelsea at the weekend.

The Argentinian was forced off with a muscle injury during the first half against the Blues on Sunday. It was a real blow for Romero, who was only making his return from a troublesome foot injury which had kept him out for a number of weeks.

The Dutchman, meanwhile, returned to the side on Sunday for the first time since picking up a hamstring injury against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on October 30. He managed 79 minutes against Chelsea but was replaced after feeling tightness in his hamstring.

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Ahead of Tottenham's Europa League clash against Rangers on Thursday night, Postecoglou provided an update on the pair. The Australian said: "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.

"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. Bentancur is obviously available so at least we get him back."

Asked if reports are correct claiming Romero will be out for six weeks, Postecoglou 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."

The Spurs boss added: "It’s challenging. We’ve also got Ben Davies out who played a big part while the other two have been out. It’s no secret we’re thin on numbers both squad wise and position wise.

"But it is what is, we can’t change that, we’ve got some big games coming up starting tomorrow. We’ll have to deal with what we’ve got. I’m still confident we’ll be able to get the job done with players at our disposal."

During the press conference, football.london asked Postecoglou if Van de Ven has suffered the same hamstring injury again. The former Celtic boss said: "It's the same side. Whether it's the same one, we've just got to get clarity on whether it's exactly the same spot or a new spot."

So, with Postecoglou confirming Romero and Van de Ven will not be available for the clash at Rangers, it could be Radu Dragusin and Archie Gray starting at centre-back for the Lilywhites. After Thursday's game Spurs travel to Southampton on Sunday, before a Carabao Cup quarter-final clash against Manchester United on December 19. Tottenham then welcome Liverpool to north London three days later.

Asked who will play at centre-back against Rangers, the Spurs boss said: "Yeah (laughs), I have to get creative. I think Archie's probably the one for us at the moment that we need to try and get to fill in there. He's done right back, left back for us. Had to play at centre-back a little bit this year, he did during the pre-season. With him and Radu, they're the two main sort of defenders. We've still got five or six games to navigate, so we may have to get creative at at some point and deal with it in a different way."

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