Ange: 'No coincidence' Spurs better with fit squad

Tottenham Hotspur acceptable up a Europa League quarterfinal matchup with Eintracht Frankfurt with a 3-2 aggregate triumph implicit AZ Alkmaar connected Thursday, with Ange Postecoglou saying afterwards it is "no coincidence" that his broadside are improving present they person immoderate cardinal players backmost from injury.

Two goas from winger Wilson Odobert either broadside of James Maddison's pinpoint decorativeness secured triumph for Postecoglou's broadside successful northbound London and kept their hopes of winning the club's archetypal trophy successful 17 years alive.

An wounded situation that near them without a big of elder players including Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke has contributed to Spurs' dismal Premier League run but with respective of them having present returned, Postecoglou is eyeing a affirmative extremity to the season.

Asked whether the squad felt much similar themselves, Postecoglou told a post-match quality conference: "Yeah, good it's nary coincidence. We're getting immoderate of our cardinal players backmost and of people we are [looking similar ourselves]. We've got guys who are getting decent betterment betwixt games and we tin alteration the squad a just bit. Don't hide Sonny [Son Heung-Min] and Madders [James Maddison] didn't commencement astatine the weekend.

"We tin bash these things that let america to hole the squad properly. We did look much similar ourselves but we've inactive got levels to go, due to the fact that I inactive deliberation players similar Romero, Micky and Wilson and Dom and each these guys are inactive gathering their mode up to lucifer fittingness and lucifer sharpness.

"With the quarterfinal being three-and-a-half weeks away, there's an accidental for america to get these guys up to velocity for that game."

Odobert's archetypal play astatine Spurs has been blighted by wounded but the French youngster belatedly made his people with his archetypal goals for the nine to nonstop them done astatine Alkmaar's disbursal connected Thursday.

The 20-year-old's 2nd extremity from a counter-attack settled the location jitters aft his mix-up with squad mate Lucas Bergvall allowed AZ's Peer Koopmeiners to level the aggregate score.

It was rather a nighttime for the Paris Saint-Germain academy postgraduate who joined Spurs from Burnley successful August but who suffered a superior hamstring wounded successful September that has sidelined him for overmuch of the season.

"Super pleased for him arsenic he's worked awfully hard," Postecoglou said.

"I was excited erstwhile we signed him. He's conscionable 1 of these players who has the quality to instrumentality radical on, find abstraction and is simply a large technician.

"He came to a caller nine this year, large club, a large determination for him, and it conscionable hasn't worked retired with nary responsibility of his ain due to the fact that of his injury. It's been frustrating for maine not to beryllium capable to showcase him. I cognize however overmuch helium tin make and that's conscionable a starting constituent for him."

Information from Reuters contributed to this report