Ange Postecoglou says ‘outstanding’ player linked with Tottenham exit will not play tomorrow vs Vissel Kobe

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Tottenham Hotspur continue their pre-season efforts over in Japan where they will take on Vissel Kobe on Saturday.

The game in Tokyo is going to provide Tottenham with the first of their three friendlies over in Asia as they then head off to South Korea.

Vissel Kobe will be a club which Ange Postecoglou will be very familiar with having managed over in the J-League previously.

And the Spurs boss will be expected to rotate his side heavily as he has done over the opening two friendly games.

Two separate starting XIs have been fielded in each half of both friendlies against Hearts and QPR already with Saturday expected to offer the same.

However, the Australian has just revealed that Spurs will be missing two first team regulars through injury.

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Ange Postecoglou provides Tottenham injury update

Injuries provided the 58-year-old a real headache last season with the Spurs squad really stretched at times due to significant issues.

But injury news was not all that Postecoglou had to speak about upon his return to a country which he called home for over three years during his tenure of Yokohama F. Marinos.

Postecoglou even suggested that Eberechi Eze is a player Tottenham would like to sign this summer with his comments on potential transfers.

But there was a reality check when the Australian provided an injury update with two players definitely missing the game against Vissel Kobe.

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Speaking to the media on Friday, Postecoglou revealed Richarlison and Destiny Udogie were still not ready to play on Saturday.

“Out of the travelling party I think it’s still Richy and Destiny who are not quite ready to play. But everyone else is fit and well,” he said.

However, it was not all bad news with Ben Davies returning to action following his injury issue towards the end of last season.

“Yeah, the guys who have participated in the games so far plus Ben Davies has trained this week.”

Richarlison injury may prove to be his downfall

This summer, Spurs have been left with an interesting decision to make up top in whether they should bring in a new striker.

Richarlison – hailed as ‘outstanding‘ – showed last season that he could potentially be a promising option after going a streak of 10 league games having returned nine goals.

However, the Brazilian’s injury record is really poor. Of course, he is not choosing to be injured, but at this level, Tottenham need a striker they can rely on over the course of the season.

There are still a lot of questions needing to be answered about the 27-year-old and he is struggling to provide those answers as he remains sidelined.

Interest from Saudi Arabia is building in Richarlison, this summer could be the chance Spurs need to replace him with an upgrade ahead of the new season.