Tottenham injury crisis: James Maddison and Micky van de Ven out until 2024
- Maddison and Van de Ven picked up injuries in Monday's loss against Chelsea
- Ange Postecoglou reveals probable return timeline in press conference
- Tottenham to be without two of their key players until January at least
By Sean Walsh
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has admitted that James Maddison and Micky van de Ven are unlikely to play again in 2023.
Maddison and Van de Ven were withdrawn just before half-time in Monday's 4-1 loss to Chelsea - a game which also saw Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie pick up suspensions after receiving red cards.
England midfielder Maddison went down clutching his ankle after failing to reach a pass in behind the Chelsea backline, while Netherlands defender Van de Ven aggressively pulled up with a hamstring problem.
Spurs fans had been hopeful that Van de Ven's injury was not too significant after pictures emerged of him walking unaided at the club's Hotspur Way training ground earlier this week, while there was belief Maddison could have been a short-term loss after being named in Gareth Southgate's England squad for the November internationals.
And though neither player is in need of surgery, Postecoglou has confirmed that he doesn't expect Maddison or Van de Ven to return before 2024.
"Micky with a hamstring injury which we kind of knew was fairly significant, probably a couple of months [out] for him, looking into the New Year," Postecoglou said at a press conference ahead of Saturday's trip to Wolves.
"Madders is a lot worse than we thought. He came off with an ankle injury, but the next day wasn't great so we sent him off for a scan. Not great again, so probably into the New Year for him."
Postecoglou went on to detail Tottenham's other injury concerns after Richarlison underwent surgery on a groin issue and Pedro Porro sat out training sessions at the start of the week.
"Richarlison, the operation that we had kind of scheduled anyway with the international break. With him a month out, so [he will return] not long after the international break," Postecoglou continued.
"Ben Davies is back and available. I think everyone else is ok. Pedro's fine, he trained, no problem."
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