Tottenham[1] were forced to replace Cristian Romero at late notice going into their clash with Aston Villa[2].
Romero had been named in Thomas Frank[3]‘s starting line-up for their first game back after the international break.
But an injury in the warm-up saw Romero unable to play and Spurs announced that Kevin Danso had taken his place.
It also meant that fellow defender Micky van de Ven had to step up and take the armband ahead of a momentous day.
Going into the clash, Tottenham sat fifth in the table with the chance to leapfrog Bournemouth[4], Liverpool[5], and Manchester City[6].
Romero has had to contend with a lot of injury trouble since joining Spurs (initially on loan) in 2021.
Cristian Romero was forced to sit out Tottenham’s clash against Aston Villa after an injury in the wamrm-up
The 27-year-old has experienced 10 separate injury-layoffs since moving to north London, with four of those being related to his hamstring.
Between December and March last season, the Argentinian sat out 21 games as he dealt with a major hamstring blow.
He has been heavily involved in Tottenham’s action this campaign, starting nine of their 10 games in all competitions prior to Sunday’s clash.
The only one he had missed was their trip to Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League, having to miss out on that one due to injury also.
Thomas Frank will hope to keep fitness issues to a minimum after seeing how much they hampered by predecessor Ange Postecoglou.
The tolls of a long domestic and Europa League campaign saw injuries become a weekly anxiety for Postecoglou, and ultimately contributed to their 17th-placed finish in the Premier League.
References
- ^ Tottenham (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Aston Villa (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Thomas Frank (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Bournemouth (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Liverpool (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Manchester City (www.dailymail.co.uk)