The two Tottenham Hotspur players who initially tested positive for Covid have now been cleared to play against Newcastle United after two subsequent negative tests.
football.london understands that the unnamed Spurs duo first recorded positive in their tests from Thursday. They were then re-tested on Friday which brought negative results.
Then a third test on Saturday delivered another set of negative results for both with the decision then taken that the initial test had been a false positive.
Tottenham said on Sunday: "Following a number of reports regarding the health of our players, the club would like provide clarity to events of the past 48 hours.
"After further analysis following Premier League protocol, two players – whose names will not be disclosed due to medical confidentiality – returned false positive tests for COVID-19 on Friday after returning from international duty."
Both players had been set to miss miss at least the Premier League matches against Newcastle United and West Ham United as well as the Europa Conference League group stage game at Vitesse Arnhem, during their 10-day isolation period.
Spurs boss Nuno Espirito Santo had alluded to the problems behind the scenes when speaking to the media on Friday about how he could not pick the same starting XI that beat Aston Villa.
"[It's] not easy, not easy. What we wanted was after the game against Villa … which I think was one of the best performances that we had in terms of the team, how we did things, how we reacted when we conceded, all these small steps that we took in the right direction … the ideal was to immediately have a good week, try to establish and create routines among players," he said.
"That was not possible. So you stay here with a group of players that you try, with the small numbers, just try and improve them individually. Not in the aspect of the team because the squad was not here. So what we want now is try to recover them.
"Like I said, we have problems and you're going to see that we have problems. We have small issues, big issues if you want, but the best way is to get a reference point and the reference point was the game against Villa.
"So that should be our starting point for a tight schedule that we’re going to be four games away from home. So starting from there … If we could, I’ll be honest with you, we would repeat the same XI, because that’s the best way to start something. It will not be possible but then you have to try again, try again, try again."
Fortunately for the Spurs boss he now seems to have had some fortune with a near full squad to pick from now for Sunday's match.
