Ange Postecoglou explains Micky van de Ven sub vs Chelsea as Tottenham boss gives injury update

Ange Postecoglou has revealed Micky van de Ven was suffering with cramp in the final minutes of Tottenham's defeat to Chelsea.

The centre-back started at alongside Cristian Romero on Thursday night and The Dutchman has suffered with hamstring and thigh injuries this season but his return to the starting line-up was very much welcomed by everyone associated with the club.

Given he was taken off with two minutes of normal time remaining, some supporters may have been fearing the worst. Postecoglou, however, has revealed there is nothing to worry about regarding Van de Ven's fitness.

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, the Australian said: "All good. Micky cramped up as not played 90 minutes for a while. Positive thing he felt good apart from cramping up. Nothing significant [injury-wise] coming out of the game."

Spurs have been careful with Van de Ven since the defender's return from injury, with Postecoglou not wanting to ask too much of the speedy centre-back too soon. His appearance against Chelsea was his first start in the Premier League since the reverse fixture against the Blues on December 8.

The Lilywhites welcome bottom of the table Southampton to north London on Sunday and it really is a must win game for Postecoglou, as pressure builds around his job. The former Celtic boss will also want to build some momentum ahead of the Europa League quarter-final first leg against Frankfurt next Thursday.

Asked what the atmosphere could be like at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, Postecoglou said: "As I said before, I would like to think irrespective of people's feelings right now I don't think there will be a Tottenham supporter out there who doesn't want to win the Europa League. The home game in the Europa League is going to be important. We had someone at the Frankfurt game last week and they said the atmosphere was really loud."

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