Tottenham fans were given a glimpse of what to expect just over two hours before Ange Postecoglou's team took on Manchester United on Sunday. Indicating in his pre-match press conference on Friday that Guglielmo Vicario, James Maddison and Destiny Udogie were in a position to return to the squad from injury, there was to be a couple more boosts to the head coach's matchday squad.

In a video posted on the club's social media channels of the players arriving at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the game, Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert were also present after their injury layoffs. Postecoglou's 20-man matchday party finally resembled a first-team squad after previously calling on a host of academy players just to make up the numbers.

It gave everyone a huge lift, with Vicario and Maddison going on to make their presence felt immediately with key roles in the win. Johnson and Odobert were also to get some minutes in the tank in the second half, with Udogie's first-team return likely to come away at Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon.

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"Yeah, it does make a massive difference," said Postecoglou when asked about the importance of having the opportunity to bring on five senior players from his bench. "Getting guys like Vic and Madders contributing straight away, you can see the quality they have and the presence they have.

"As you said I can put guys on and for guys like Brennan and Wilson, Vic, Madders to a certain extent, it might take them one or two games to get up to speed, but the fact we have them available, yeah, it's an enormous boost for us."

On the returning players helping lift the mood, he added: "I don’t know if confidence is the right word but you are right about lifting the mood and I sensed it in training. Not just with the players but even the coaches.

"We have hardly trained the last two months. We have just gone out there and tried to work on things without putting a physical toll on the players because of the game schedule. We have had to do it with U21 and U18 players.

"This week all of a sudden we have had 20 senior fit players which gives everyone a boost. Training is more energetic and up tempo. The players and the coaches all respond to that and feeds in.

"That’s why I thought it was important today that we got a win. We can do that again this week and build into a big week.

"There’s no doubt. The players understand when they say the likes of Vicario, Maddison, Johnson, all training again they feel good as well. As much as all players want to play, they also knew they needed help and they got it this week."

The free week leading up to the game and the returning players made a huge difference for Tottenham on the day as they won courtesy of Maddison's early strike. The great thing for Postecoglou right now is it shouldn't be a one-off.

There will be a further boost to come at Portman Road on Saturday when Tottenham take on Kieran McKenna's Ipswich Town. Not only will Udogie be able to get his first minutes in 2025 after last featuring against Wolves in late December, Johnson and Odobert should be in a position to increase their pitch time ahead of next week's home encounter against Manchester City.

Maddison, who was very impressive in Sunday's win, should also see an increase in his levels as he will only improve with the more time he spends on the field after just over three weeks out. Providing that there are no further setbacks over the next fortnight or so, there will be even more boosts to come in March with Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Richarlison and Dominic Solanke making their comebacks.

Postecoglou revealed last Friday that the quartet are likely to return in two to three weeks, thus possibly coming at the ideal time with the team set to return to Europa League action in the round of 16. All four are very important players for Tottenham and it could leave Postecoglou with quite a dilemma on his hands in terms of picking a matchday squad if everybody remains fit between now and then.

One thing for certain is that the head coach is targeting a big end to the season with those who have only just returned and those still to make their comeback only going to make the team even stronger.

"I certainly believe there is still a hell of a lot on offer for us, this back-half of the year," said the 59-year-old. "Europe is the obvious one, but even in the league I think we could make inroads there. We’re not happy with where we are. It’s unacceptable that we’re in the position we are. But the circumstances have dictated that to a great extent.

"The circumstances will change. The guys who came back in today will improve and make us stronger. There’s still two or three more on the horizon who will also come back. I think that gives us an opportunity before long.

"It’s only one game, but I thought today was an important game if we were going to start that progress. Getting three points makes us think, OK, it’s starting to make an impact."

Possibly a pivotal day for the football club in their season, it also gave everyone a glimpse of what could just be around the corner with Tottenham's injury crisis finally starting to ease up.

Victory over Man United, talking about those fan protests & the Vicario and Maddison's triumphant returns. Click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham!

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