Injury-hit Tottenham have no fresh fitness concerns ahead of their Boxing Day clash against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, with Destiny Udogie declared fit and Rodrigo Bentancur returning from suspension.

Udogie is a key player for Spurs as the club’s first-choice option at left-back, though has not featured since the 5-0 demolition of struggling Southampton on December 15 after suffering a thigh issue at St Mary’s, where he was replaced before the half-hour mark by Pedro Porro.

Head coach Ange Postecoglou expressed optimism that the problem was not significant and said the decision to withdraw him early on the south coast was more precautionary, though the Italian international did end up missing the thrilling Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United.

Udogie was then named on the bench for Sunday’s chaotic 6-3 defeat by Liverpool in the top-flight, though remained an unused substitute despite Tottenham’s ongoing defensive struggles.

11th-place Spurs face another difficult test on Boxing Day as they travel to meet an in-form Forest team who have won four of their last five matches including the last three in a row under Nuno Espirito Santo to climb up to fourth in the table, still without the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario, Ben Davies, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison due to injury.

However, Postecoglou believes that Udogie is now fit to start and is also boosted by the return of influential midfielder Bentancur, who has served his seven-match domestic ban for comments made about team-mate Heung-min Son in its entirety, having seen an appeal against the sanction rejected earlier this month. The Uruguayan remained available in the Europa League.

"From the [Liverpool] game, as far as I’m aware no issues,” Postecoglou said at his pre-Forest press conference on Christmas Eve. “Destiny was on the bench [against Liverpool], wasn’t 100 per cent but should be right for the game [against Forest]. Bentancur is available after his suspension. That’s kind of it at the moment."

Expanding on Udogie’s recent issue, Postecoglou said he was merely feeling some soreness but did not think it wise to risk aggravating the problem further against Liverpool.

“He was just a bit sore from the game before, after the Southampton game,” the Australian added. “He trained but wasn’t feeling 100 per cent. In normal situations, we might have risked it. But I just felt we shouldn’t use him."