Tottenham Injury Updates: Maddison, Udogie Return Ahead of Brentford Clash

Tottenham have been handed a timely lift before their Premier League opener at Brentford, with Mateus Fernandes, James Maddison and Destiny Udogie all back in training. The cloud hanging over the squad, though, is Micky van de Ven’s fitness.

Maddison and Udogie push to return

Roberto De Zerbi has spent much of pre-season juggling fitness concerns around key players. Maddison and Fernandes have had their minutes carefully managed, while Van de Ven and Udogie did not feature at all in the summer schedule.

Udogie is being handled with particular care after a run of muscular problems last season. Maddison is on his own long road back, still building sharpness following the anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered last summer. Both, however, are edging closer. Each trained ahead of the trip to the Gtech Community Stadium and is pushing to be involved against Brentford.

Fernandes, a summer signing, is in the same boat. A calf issue has disrupted his last few weeks, but his presence on the training pitch offers De Zerbi another attacking option if the medical staff give the green light.

Van de Ven concern lingers

The mood is less upbeat around Van de Ven. The Netherlands defender, fresh from signing a lucrative new contract, was again absent from training at Hotspur Way and has not appeared in any of De Zerbi’s pre-season squads since returning from the World Cup.

With no minutes in his legs and no sign of a late breakthrough, he now looks unlikely to feature in west London. For a side that leaned heavily on his pace and recovery defending, that is a significant question mark heading into the opening weekend.

Dominic Solanke is another doubt. The striker has been used sparingly in pre-season after missing most of last year with ankle and hamstring injuries, leaving his readiness for Saturday under scrutiny.

Big spend, big expectations

Spurs head across the capital on Saturday evening hunting more than just three points. After an aggressive summer in the market, they want a statement.

The north London club have poured £237million into six new signings, a clear attempt to rip up the memory of last season’s 17th-place finish. The money is spent, the squad is reshaped. Now it comes down to who is fit enough to deliver when the whistle blows at Brentford.