Antonio Conte has revealed the availability of Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur ahead of Tottenham's New Year's Day clash against Aston Villa. Romero missed Spurs' Premier League return against Brentford after being given time off following Argentina's World Cup win, while Bentancur was absent after suffering an injury with Uruguay at the World Cup.
After conceding two soft goals against Brentford, Conte will be boosted by the return of Romero who will be available for selection against Aston Villa after showing great focus in training upon his return.
"Romero is back and he's available for the game against Aston Villa," Conte said. "From what I saw in last few days in training session, I have seen him with great focus and great desire to come back and play for us. For sure I am really happy for him and it is important to have in our team two World Cup champions.
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"But he has to know very well that now starts the more difficult period for him because expectation is going to become high for him. For this reason he has to work even more and continue to work."
However, it was not good news on the injury front for Bentancur from Conte, who has instead suggested the Uruguayan could be set for a longer absence than what was initially suggested.
"Rodrigo, I think we have to wait, maybe today he is going to have an MRI to try to have an evaluation about his injury," he said. "For sure tomorrow against Villa, he's not available. He had an injury in the World Cup and also the timing is more long than my expectation. This question is more for the medical department than me."
Spurs face Aston Villa at 2pm on Sunday, January 1 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with the hope of kicking off 2023 with a win.
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