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Emma de Duve

Dane Scarlett makes mark, Gollini shock - How Tottenham players are doing on international duty

Antonio Conte still has a while to wait before the majority of his players return, after the international break. The Italian only has a handful of his squad to work with during his break, ahead of Tottenham's final nine games of the season.

The Lilywhites went into the break on the back of a 3-1 victory against West Ham, taking them to fifth in the Premier League. They are now just three points behind fourth placed Arsenal and the battle for a spot in the top four is still ongoing.

This couple of weeks would've been a great chance for Conte to spend time working with his squad and preparing them for the final stretch of the campaign. However, he has to cope with the small number of players he has and hope the members of his squad who are on duty, don't return without injury.

READ MORE: The 8 Tottenham players Antonio Conte will work with in training during the international break

It has now been almost a week since Tottenham's London derby win and the international break has nearly reached the halfway point. Ahead of the final week before league action resumes, football.london takes a look at how those on international duty are getting on in their World Cup qualifiers.

Son Heung-min

South Korea was the first game to kick-off on Thursday and it was a good day for them and for Son. They beat Iran 2-0 and the 29-year-old played all 90 minutes of the game. Not only was he on the pitch for the entirety of the match, he also picked up a goal. The Tottenham man took his shot from outside of the area and buried it in the bottom corner, in a situation where the goalkeeper should've done better.

Ben Davies & Joe Rodon

It was also a good day for the Welsh duo, with both Davies and Rodon playing 90 minutes in a back three for their country. Wales beat Austria 2-1, with both goals coming from former Spurs man, Gareth Bale. Both players produced solid performances, with Davies assisting Bale's second goal. Rodon hasn't had much luck with game time at Tottenham this season but made 17 clearances and blocked three shots for his country in their World Cup qualifier.

Pierluigi Gollini

It was upset for Gollini and Italy on Thursday after they were knocked out of the World Cup by North Macedonia, in a 1-0 defeat. Not only that but the Spurs goalkeeper wasn't named on the team sheet for the game, so a bad day all round.

Dejan Kulusevski

Kulusevski has made a solid start to his Tottenham career, since his arrival in January and has already praised those around him at the north London club. The Swedish international got more game time, playing 120 minutes in his country's 1-0 victory over Czech Republic, which came in extra time. The 21-year-old played on the right of a front two in Sweden's 4-4-2 system and he had two shots and two key passes during the game, as well as producing two crosses and four long balls. The match didn't come without a slight injury, as Kulusevski suffered a nasty hit in the 55th minute.

A clash of heads between Kulusevski and David Zima caused swelling to the Tottenham players left cheek, which required treatment and an ice pack before he returned to the pitch with a lump in the effected area. After the game, the 21-year-old explained the injury which wasn't as bad as he initially thought. "It [head] started to spin for a few seconds and I got a little worried. I thought it was the head, but then it turned out well. I was just trying to get angry to get energy from it."

Rodrigo Bentancur

Yet more game time for Tottenham players, with Bentancur playing the whole game for Uruguay on Thursday night. His country secured the final automatic place in South American World Cup qualification with a 1-0 win against Peru.

Davinson Sanchez

Sanchez was on the bench for Colombia, in their 3-0 victory over Bolivia but was an unused substitution. The defender will hope for some game time when they play their next match on Wednesday.

Youngsters

Some of the Tottenham youngsters were in action on Wednesday, in the UEFA U19 Championships with Dane Scarlett and Alfie Devine both playing 66 minutes for the England U19s. Scarlett also picked up a goal in the 3-1 win against the Republic of Ireland. Meanwhile, Thimothee Lo-Tutala was given the nod in France U19s fixture against Sweden, where they won 5-0. Matthew Craig also played just over 80 minutes for Scotland, when they beat Turkey 2-1.

Kallum Cesay and Maksim Paskotsi also got minutes for their country on Thursday. Paskotsi played 80 minutes for Estonia, in their 0-0 draw against Cyprus in the UEFA National League whilst Cesay was an unused substitute in Sierra Leone's 3-0 victory over Togo in the Antalya Cup friendly tournament in Turkey. There are five Spurs players who could get game time with matches on Friday. Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Pape Matar Sarr all have World Cup qualification matches whilst Hugo Lloris' France side have a friendly to play and Bryan Gil will hope to feature in Spain U21s European Under-21 Championship qualifying game against Lithuania.

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