Ange Postecoglou has spoken to the media ahead of Sunday's Premier League showdown between Tottenham and Leicester City. It is a very important match for Spurs as they bid to get back on track and climb the league standings from their lowly position of 15th.

The team should certainly be in confident mood going into the game after securing a 3-2 win over Hoffenheim in the Europa League on Thursday evening. James Maddison put the north London club on their way to victory with only three minutes on the clock, before Son Heung-min netted a brace to secure all three points in Germany.

Going into this weekend's clash at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Postecoglou spoke about Cristian Romero's fitness, Micky van de Ven, team news, transfers and facing the Foxes. You can read a full transcript of the press conference below:

READ MORE: Bentancur's heartfelt moment with Archie Gray and what Lucas Bergvall did after Tottenham win

READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou handed triple Tottenham boost from Hoffenheim win for Elfsborg showdown

A sense of relief last night after the win?

Very proud, like I said last night. Outstanding effort by the players, a really important game for us in terms of the European context because you saw how the results went last night. A kind of positive result really help us with our target.

I thought the lads gave everything on the night. Senior players outstanding, young players as always giving us everything they've got. Really pleased with the outcome.

You mentioned last night about Dominic Solanke's six-week absence, could that push or change anything to bring reinforcements in?

All those things are known, nothing's changed in the last 24 hours. We kind of knew with Dom probably a few days back and we've had a press conference in the meantime. All these things are known and nothing has changed the last 24 hours that changes that part of it.

You had 13 fit players last night but you have a couple more you could bring back in this weekend...

No not really. Djed is still sore from the weekend and is a doubt for this weekend as he's got a knock. Pape is still a doubt and Reggy should be ok.

How tough is it to operate in these circumstances?

It's not about me, it's about the players. It is getting increasingly difficult for them to maintain performance for sure as they're giving everything and it's a small group. We should have some light at the end of the tunnel the next couple of weeks. It's not as dire as...but at the same time there's always the possibility that before those guys come back, the load we're putting on these guys we might lose a couple of these.

That's always the challenging bit and that's what we're going through. It has been two months of hard grind for the players and, as I keep saying, just trying to support them as much as we can and help them through it. We're working awfully hard on, not just on game time, but in between games to recover and give us the best chance of putting in the performances that are needed at this level.

Obviously our schedule is not going to ease up at all and we've got a massive game this week and a massive week coming in a couple of weeks' time, but at the same time the resilience and determination of players to get out there and perform is a fantastic thing for me to witness and I couldn't be prouder of them.

You said last night there was nothing imminent on transfers, is that still the case in the eight hours since we last spoke to you?

Transfer-wise you mean? Yeah, nothing has really changed.

You finished the game last night with five teenagers on the pitch, what has it been like working with them and how important are these memories at the start of their career to lean on?

Yeah absolutely. I've said before I think irrespective of the difficulty we've had in the last couple of months we'll definitely benefit in the growth we've had from our younger players. But again we've just got to be careful with them, particularly Archie and Lucas and Mikey coming back.

We can’t keep asking 18-year-olds to keep dipping in. The thing about the youth is they will keep going. They don’t know how to stop. When you are young you always want to give your best and those guys are giving their best. And to be fair to them the quality of their performances. I thought Archie again, out of position, was brilliant last night. Lucas worked his socks off for the team. Mikey gets an assist when he comes on.

There is no doubt we will get enormous benefit for many years to come hopefully from those players. They have had a tough a start to a career as I can remember in terms of their age and what they are being asked to do. Whether that is Archie playing in multiple positions or Lucas coming in to make a real impact in that midfield area or Mikey at 16/17. From that perspective I think it is hugely positive.

Leicester are struggling, what type of battle do you expect?

It will be a tough game. As you said, Leicester are in a fight there to stay in the Premier League and you know in those games they will definitely come and try to make it as difficult as possible for us. But we are in our own tough moment in the league. Being at home will help us. With the crowd they can definitely give some energy to the players and hopefully with a really good atmosphere we can overcome the challenge.

Son entered top 10 all-time list for most Spurs appearances last night?

I have spoken about Sonny many times. He is an outstanding player and person. He has, like the team, had to grind his way through the last couple of months. Again, we are asking him to play a hell of a lot. As attacking players, it’s always more difficult as you need that extra sharpness but he has never shirked the challenge.

Last night we really needed some strong leadership and I thought, particularly earlier on, him Madders, Rodri, Ben and Deki. They are the five men we have got in the team, the rest of them are still very young and Richy is only just coming back from injury. It was important they stood up last night and I thought they did that really well.

How fit is Richarlison to play every few days?

As fit as he could possibly be. We are obviously managing his minutes at the moment. He got through it last night. He hasn’t played for a long time so he is not going to be his sharpest. We have still got to manage that. The reality is, unless something changes, he has to play.

Richarlison can impress while Solanke is out injured? Does not have to fight for minutes?

I don’t think Richy cares about Dom Solanke or anybody else. When Richy is playing he is Brazil’s No 9. When he played for us last year he was scoring goals. I don’t think Richy was ever worried.

I think he will welcome Dom coming back. Both of them playing together could be a force for us. I don’t think that factors into it. Richy is just happy he is physically in good shape and able to start contributing and a lot of the injured guys their biggest probably frustration is that they can’t help the team. I know that is his main driver right now.

Already played 35 games this season, has the squad been big enough?

That question has been asked. You can have 50 players but at the end of the day we have had a really bad set of circumstances with injuries. They have cascaded on us in terms of key areas of the park. Irrespective of the size of the squad or whatever the squad should be, any team would get affected by that. I get that people want to delve deeper into that but ultimately that’s the situation we are in. I don’t think anything could have changed any differently.

Any team that loses the amount of players we have, irrespective of your squad, and to key players. We haven’t lost the 18-year-olds in our team we have lost our starting goalkeeper, centre-backs, left-back, strikers, you name it we have lost it for all different circumstances. From that perspective it is not about the size of the squad I think it is about the cards we have been dealt with.

What do you hope the players and the club have learnt from the testing times you've had over the past couple of months?

I don't think players need to learn anything. The players, as I said, they've done their utmost to carry us through this, there's nothing more anyone can ask of the players. You can talk about the level of performance and that, but when people are giving absolutely their maximum, and look at Everton we weren't great, but at 3-0 at half-time they decided they were still going to dig into any bit of energy they had to try and get back into the game and at 3-2 we still had a chance to get something out of the game.

This group of players doesn't need to learn anything. What they've shown is that they're fighting for the club, they're fighting for themselves, they're fighting for those people around them and I think that is a real positive. As a club there is always learnings and learnings in terms of the way we've got through this period. We're not out of it yet but I've always felt getting through difficult periods should you stay calm and stay the course usually you get a positive outcome.

Players even more motivated to win cup competitions?

I don’t think it has made them more motivated but that is also the reality. I know the focus has been on our league form and that hasn’t been great and we have to turn that around. The reality is we are still in other cup competitions and are very deep in one. We know we are in the knockout stages of Europe, a step further forward in the FA Cup. No extra motivation needed. There is plenty of opportunity and things to look forward to in this next two/three months for us to make sure we finish the season strong.

Insight into the conversations behind the scenes trying to get to the bottom of why this period has been so difficult?

Just injuries. You can walk outside and say ‘jeeze it’s really bright’ and look at the sun and think ‘maybe it’s not the sun.’ But it’s the sun, mate. We’ve just got injuries.

You can do a million investigations and talk to anonymous sources but you don’t need to talk to anonymous sources you can talk to me. Every decision that is made is on me. I’m responsible for it. I’m the one that is guiding this. If you’re looking for a head on a stick take mine. But I am absolutely 100 per cent confident that we are in a much better place in all areas of the club today than we were when I started.

Is Cristian Romero in a position to return to the squad this weekend and where is Micky with his fitness?

No. Like I said, we got him back training. Him and Micky are the next cabs off the rank in terms of the long-term ones. They've still got a bit to do in terms of getting some training into them with the team. Obviously we haven't been training a lot and because the other day was sort of low tempo session, it was just good to get him involved, not just for him but the players involved because they need a bit of help and encouragement and Cuti training with them gives them a big lift.

Micky's not too far away. These players will come back, knock on wood they're not deceased, they're just injured, so they will be all back so it's not all doom and gloom. It's good to see for the players as he's joined in training the last couple of days but he's still got a bit of work to do.

Archie seemed to be holding his leg at the full-time whistle last night, is that cramp or potentially something more concerning?

No he got a knock towards the end of the game on his knee. He's just exhausted, mate. I'm sure he'll be back in this morning doing everything right like he does. As I said, the players are trying to work as hard as they can between games to recover and make sure they're ready to go. Nothing significant came from last night apart from fatigue, nothing else.

You said two weeks ago Will Lankshear could leave on loan, is that still case or does Dom’s injury change things?

Yeah I mean we’ll just kind of assess it. Where we sit right now with Dom still being out, we’ve got to be mindful of leaving us with a further player short.

You praised Dom’s leadership a couple of weeks ago, how much you going to miss him?

Again, it is what it is. He’s not the only one. We’ve lost Romero, we’ve lost Vicario and they are two actually part of our leadership group, so we’ve been dealing with that kind of stuff for a while.

Could you potentially recall Manor Solomon or Bryan Gil?

No.

Wanted to ask about Callum Olusesi, made his debut last night and wondered what he’s been like training with group?

Yeah we’ve had quite a few young boys training with the group and obviously with the situation we’re in, it’s allowed them to understand what it takes to even train at this level and Callum’s been great. He’s obviously a very talented young player and he’s one of the ones we’ve got high hopes for.

Obviously he got a taste of it last night, which is great for him and for his family. Hopefully it gives him encouragement, but he’s still got a long way to go in terms of becoming part of the first-team. I guess in all these scenarios you hope the experiences they gain fuels it even further although he’s a very motivated young player and we’ve got high hopes for him.

You said a few weeks back European games in January had complicated the window, do you think we might see a mad rush when places are decided after next week’s games?

Yeah, potentially. I mean I really think that has been a factor because if you look at the way European competitions are stacked up, that would be done and dusted by now and people would know if they are in the Champions League or if they are in the Europa League and adjusted their sights.

Maybe after last night and I’ve had a close look at the three-page table, thankfully we’re on the first so I don’t need to go beyond that, but if there is any significant clubs in there and out of the competition, it may make things happen a little bit quicker.

Felt you’ve needed a player during first three weeks of window because of so many key games – would you be happy to bring in player just to improve squad depth or if you bring someone in do you want them to be able to make big impact over next four months?

It just depends. It depends on the player, it depends on how they fit in to what we do. It’s not just about bringing in another body, but yeah, there is still no doubt we need to help these players because we’ve still got some significant games in the next two or three weeks before we get players back.

Last night created chances first half and then had to dip deep in second half. Earlier in season, before injuries, you were able to blow away teams and win by a few goals, but how important was it to get ugly win last night – likely to need a few more of them over coming weeks?

Yeah, that depends. I know what you are saying about being ugly last night, but the only reason it was ugly was because the players were out on their feet in the second half. I thought our football in the first half was outstanding. We scored two goals but probably had great chances to score two or three more and again we would have blown them away.

Yeah, we had to dig deep second half and we kind of knew we would have to because players would feel the fatigue and I couldn’t really make significant substitutions to change that a lot. So, we knew we would have to rely on that starting XI to carry us through the majority of the game, but it was good to throw Mikey on and he can make an impact.

Within that context, it was good they fought it out and Sonny’s third goal was also important because you always feel when you play away from home and they have a home crowd the opposition will create chances, but I thought for the most part the lads handled it well. Even for Brandon, that’s his first European game and we can’t overstate that. We’re throwing him in a game of consequence, it’s not like it is a game of no consequence where you see a lot of these decisions made. We backed him in a big game and I thought he delivered.

How is Bissouma with his fitness for this weekend?

See how we go. He's definitely a doubt for Sunday but we're hoping by Elfsborg he could be right.

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