Son Heung-min will miss Tottenham’s crunch Europa League return leg at Eintracht Frankfurt with a foot injury, manager Ange Postecoglou said Wednesday.
The South Korean did not make the trip to Germany, having missed Saturday’s Premier League match at Wolverhampton.
“Sonny didn’t travel in the end, he’s the only one that misses out,” Postecoglou told the pre-match press conference.
“He’s been battling with his foot problem for a few weeks now and managed to play through it.
“He trained the last few days, he tried to train yesterday and it wasn’t right, so we made the decision to leave him at home to allow him to recuperate”.
Son has three goals and one assist in nine Europa League games this season.
After a 1-1 draw in London, where Spurs’ Pedro Porro cancelled out Hugo Ekitike’s early strike, whoever wins at the Waldstadion on Thursday will make the final four.
Postecoglou comes into Thursday’s match under pressure after Spurs’ struggles in the league.
The Australian said he “couldn’t care less” about personal criticism, adding: “If you don’t think I’m a good coach, that’s not going to change because of what happens tomorrow.
“We’ve got a great opportunity tomorrow, and I’m not going to let that slip by without fighting tooth and nail.”
Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmoeller said Tottenham’s latest league setback, a 4-2 loss to lowly Wolverhampton on Sunday, plays “absolutely no role because their only focus is the Europa League”.
Toppmoeller also shot down suggestions his side, sitting third in the Bundesliga, were favourites against a Spurs team in 15th place in the Premier League.
“It doesn’t matter whether any team is the favourite or not,” he said.
Frankfurt captain and goalkeeper Kevin Trapp has failed to recover from injury in time to play, with Kaua Santos set to continue to deputise for the German between the sticks.
Frankfurt won the Europa League in 2022, defeating Rangers on penalties in Seville, and the topic came up in Wednesday’s press conference.
Asked about the potential for a penalty shootout, always a topic in meetings between English and German opposition, Toppmoeller was bullish.
“I have absolutely no fear of a shootout, because I have total confidence in the boys. And if it comes to penalties, we’ll win on penalties.”
AFP
