Three Spurs players ruled out of United clash

Ange Postecoglou already knew he’d have to make do without captain Son Heung-min, who is at the Asian Cup with South Korea.

Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma are also on international duty, as they prepare for the Africa Cup of Nations, while James Maddison, Ivan Perisic, Manor Solomon and Alejo Veliz will all miss the game due to long-term injuries.

Ben Davies and Giovani Lo Celso will also sit out the meeting with Manchester United after being injured during last week’s Emirates FA Cup win over Burnley and teenage forward Dane Scarlett has a knock.

“Ben has got a hamstring injury so it'll probably be around four or five weeks,” Postecoglou said in his pre-match press conference earlier today.

“Gio is similar but it is a little bit more complicated. We're still trying to get to the bottom of it. I think he is having another assessment on Monday but he will miss this game.

“Dane Scarlett also picked up a knock in training so he will miss out this weekend as well.”

Cristian Romero has returned to training after a hamstring problem, but Spurs’ Australian head coach says ‘it might be a bit close’ for the Argentina World Cup winner to be involved in Manchester.

There have already been two new arrivals in north London during January, as Timo Werner joined from RB Leipzig on a loan deal. The German, who scored 23 goals for Chelsea during a two-season spell at Stamford Bridge, could make his debut in M16 this weekend.

Radu Dragusin’s signing from Genoa was announced on Thursday and Postecoglou confirmed the Romanian defender will be in the squad, if his paperwork is rubberstamped in time.

Micky van de Ven’s return from a two-month lay-off has enabled fellow centre-back Eric Dier to join up with former team-mate Harry Kane at Bayern Munich on a temporary basis.