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Tottenham Hotspur will remain without captain Son Heung-min for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup fourth round tie at home to Manchester City.
Son returned after a three-match absence with a hamstring injury to score against West Ham earlier this month, but reported “soreness” after the win on October 19 and has missed the matches with AZ Alkmaar and Crystal Palace.
Postecoglou revealed the attacker will be absent again for the visit of City but should return for the Premier League fixture with Aston Villa on Sunday.
“Sonny, no. Well he is almost fit but we will probably from our perspective aim him for the weekend. We’re quite confident he will be right for the weekend,” Postecoglou confirmed.
“The only one missing out, which is a bit of a disappointment, is Wilson (Odobert). He’s had a setback during the week and it seems like it’s a serious one, so we’re waiting for more information.
“And then from the weekend everyone else is okay and Djed (Spence) is back training.”
Mikey Moore, 17, started in Son’s place during the 1-0 loss at Crystal Palace, but may drop to the bench against City with the out-of-form Timo Werner and fit-again Richarlison candidates to start at left forward.
Pep Guardiola has repeatedly stated Man City would not waste energy on the Carabao Cup this season but Postecoglou will expect a certain level of performance from the visitors.
Postecoglou added: “I think it’s fair to say most clubs rotate through the Carabao Cup, but you just have to look at Man City’s record in this competition and they are a fantastic football club.
“It’s very difficult in this league and in this country to maintain that excellence over the time they have. They do that because, irrespective of who they play, there is a level of performance that they continually deliver whether they’ve rotated the team or not, or whatever the competition.”
In terms of his own selection, Postecoglou was guarded over whether it would be his strongest XI.
“Obviously City played on Saturday (against Southampton), so we’ve got to make sure the players we put out there tomorrow are able to compete physically with what’s going to be on the other side of the pitch from us,” Postecoglou admitted.
“The good thing is just about the whole squad’s had some kind of football so that means whatever changes we make the players coming in are at a good physical level.”
Tottenham have not won a trophy since 2008 but Postecoglou insisted they cannot pick and choose which matches they view as more important in a seven-day week where many supporters will place extra significance on the cup clash with City over the visit of Villa on Sunday.
Postecoglou reflected: “I’d hate to think that any supporter of this football club thinks that I try harder in one game than another.
“Supporters can feel what they like, on which is the most important game. But it would be the biggest injustice for me as a manager if I said, ‘we’re going to try harder tomorrow than we do at the weekend or we did last weekend’.
“Our responsibility lies with trying to be the best we can be every day for our supporters, for everyone who’s part of this football club. It’s not about trying to gain brownie points. That’s not what our role is.”
