Ange Postecoglou has played down injury fears over Dominic Solanke and James Maddison after the pair were forced off during Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Bodo/Glimt on Thursday night.
Spurs have half a foot in the Europa League final after a comfortable win over their Norwegian counterparts, which Brennan Johnson, Maddison and Solanke all scoring before Ulrik Saltnes gave Glimt hope late on ahead of the second leg.
Maddison was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski shortly after the hour mark with Spurs 3-0 up, before Solanke made way for Wilson Odobert 10 minutes later, but Postecoglou hopes neither England international has suffered a serious problem.
"Madders felt a tweak in his knee, but it doesn't sound like it's anything serious, and Dom something similar in his quad, but both of them didn't feel it was anything too significant, but thought it was wise just to take them off at that point," the Australian said.
Postecoglou named the previously out-of-favour Yves Bissouma as Bergvall's replacement at the base of midfield while Richarlison started on the left wing for the first time since October 2023.
The two surprising picks were both vindicated as Richarlison made the opening goal with an unselfish header for Johnson, though the Brazilian was replaced by Mathys Tel at half-time, and Bissouma impressing.
"Richarlison wasn't injured, it was just a tactical thing," Postecoglou said. "He did a great job for us in the first half, exactly what we needed him to do, but we thought the game would open up in the second half and we got Mathys on for that.
"I thought Biss and Rodri [Bentancur] were outstanding. They were really key for us today. The beauty of Lucas is that he fills that sort of role really well from a defensive point of view and the reason I put Biss in there today, I knew that we were going to need that from him, the way Bodo set up and their ability to try and gain momentum as they build up their play. I thought him and Rodri were going to be key for us stemming that, and that's how it proved."
