PA Media/dpa
London
Ange Postecoglou has confirmed Tottenham plan to be active in the January transfer window.
Spurs have been beset by injuries and suspensions over the past month, which has seen them plummet down the Premier League table amid an inconsistent run of form.
A thrilling 4-3 win over Manchester United in the League Cup quarter-finals last Thursday was followed up by a humbling 6-3 loss at home to Liverpool on Sunday and ahead of a Boxing Day trip to Nottingham Forest, Postecoglou confirmed the club aim to boost their depleted squad.
“Like I said a while ago, we’ve been planning. A lot of it was going to be around where we’re at around this time. Fair to say we’re still a little bit short in a couple of areas and we need to reinforce,” Postecoglou explained.
“January’s trickier in terms of what sort of players you can bring in. For us, ideal - for any club, I guess - you want to bring in people who are going to make you stronger.
“I think the fact that, obviously, we’re still in the League Cup semi-final, still got Europe, FA Cup, we’re in all the competitions, it’s not like our schedule’s going to ease up at any stage. So, I think it makes sense. We will try and reinforce. Where and what number we’ll have to wait and see.”
A painful three-goal loss at home to Liverpool means Tottenham will be 11th on Christmas Day after three defeats in their last five Premier League, whilst they have also juggled cup commitments.
The context around those defeats is a lengthy list of absentees, which includes Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven and that is why the boss will not be critical of his threadbare available squad.
Postecoglou added: “I can’t be critical of this group of players at the moment in any sense. I think it would be unfair for anyone to because what they’re doing is they’re giving absolute maximum effort.”
Tottenham will be boosted by the return of Rodrigo Bentancur at Forest after a seven-match domestic ban for racist remarks but Postecoglou will not be able to celebrate the availability of one extra player with family on Christmas Day.
