Tottenham duo Harry Kane and Heung-min Son among 10 Spurs players to miss Vitesse Arnhem clash

Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa
REUTERS
Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP20 October 2021

Tottenham will be without Harry Kane and Heung-min Son for their Europa Conference League match at Vitesse Arnhem on Thursday after Nuno Espirito Santo confirmed that none of the outfield players who featured against Newcastle would make the trip.

Emerson Royal, Eric Dier, Cristian Romero, Sergio Reguilon, Oliver Skipp, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Tanguy Ndombele and Lucas Moura will also remain in London to prepare for Sunday’s derby at West Ham under the supervision of assistant head coach Ian Cathro.

The 10 were not part of training on Wednesday morning ahead of the flight to the Netherlands, although goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris did take part.

The Frenchman is also likely to be rested for Thursday’s match, although Nuno confirmed only that his outfield starters from St. James’ Park would be part of the travelling squad.

“Yes,” Nuno said. “We worked today [Wednesday], we prepared for the game with the players that are going to start tomorrow.

“Then we had a good training session with players that are going to stay. They’re going to work [at Hotspur Way] tomorrow and then we’ll join all the group [back together] on Friday.

“Ian’s going to stay with them. He has a beautiful [new] baby but that’s not the reason he’s going to stay.

“He’s going to stay because it’s important for preparation in terms of the game on Sunday.”

Nuno insisted the decision did not indicate a lack of respect for the Europa Conference League and dismissed the suggestion that he had one group of players for the League and another for Europe.

“No, it’s not fair to say [we have two squads],” he said. “It’s a situation that we decided for this specific week. We considered that it’s the best way to go and compete well tomorrow and compete well on Sunday.

“But there’s no difference. It’s a squad.

“It’s not about [a lack of respect for the competition],” he added. “If someone gets that interpretation, I cannot do anything.

“Next week we are going to have another game mid-week [against Burnley in the Carabao Cup fourth round]. So we have to measure all these things.

“We respect all the competitions, we respect all the games. And we consider that it’s better for us to start the players that are going to start, leave some players here, work, recover well, so we can be able to compete better on the Sunday, and then we have Wednesday, and over and over again.”

Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) and Matt Doherty are both sidelined through injury and will not travel, leaving Nuno likely to rely on a host of youth players to fill his bench.

“Matt’s improving. Sess also but they’re not in the group yet,” the Portuguese head coach said.

“Next week, we’ll see if we have good news.”

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