Cristian Stellini does not exactly have a lot of options when it comes to tinkering with his Tottenham XI at the moment. On course to jump into third in the Premier League table on Monday evening as they led 1-0 at Goodison Park thanks to Harry Kane's penalty, Spurs paid the ultimate price for not taking the game to ten-man Everton and Michael Keane duly punished them in the final minute.
Certainly needing to freshen things up going on how they fared on Merseyside, Stellini is going to find it very challenging indeed to give his starting XI a much-needed boost. Davinson Sanchez and Lucas Moura were the two players he turned to at Everton as they entered the fray late on, with the latter on the pitch for six minutes after seeing red following a horror challenge on Keane.
Tottenham's bench, which included two goalkeepers at Everton, is reminiscent of 12 months ago with a handful of youngsters making up the numbers due to the amount of injuries. Another will have to be added to the allotted nine this weekend unless the acting head coach is given a boost on the injury front for the home clash against Brighton & Hove Albion.
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At a time when the team are fighting for a Champions League finish, the last thing Stellini needs at present is for host of injuries and limited options on the bench to stop him from shaking his team up. The latest on the Tottenham injury front will become a lot clearer on Thursday afternoon when the Italian speaks to the media at Hotspur Way to preview the Brighton match.
One week ago, Stellini stated that Emerson Royal, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur are all on the sidelines through injury, with Richarlison, who came off in the opening minutes of the 3-3 draw with Southampton, still not training with the side. He did mention that Ben Davies and Ryan Sessegnon are pushing to recover, although they are not ready just yet but working hard to be back as soon as possible.
Until the aforementioned players, with the exception of Bentancur who is out for the season, start to return to fitness and are in a position to play again, it appears that there is very little Stellini can do with his team unless he elects to make some bold selection decisions.
Arnaut Danjuma will be hoping that the change in management will benefit him in the final nine league games after barely getting an opportunity under Conte. While Monday evening showed no sign whatsoever of his current predicament ending, Lucas' suspension and question marks over Richarlison's return could work in his favour against Brighton.
Pape Matar Sarr could be another option to come in but that would require breaking up the partnership of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp who have partnered each other in the league since Bentancur's injury. In terms of the backline, Tottenham only have one option apiece in either wing-back role and there's very little Stellini can do with the back three as it would be a risk to play with Sanchez on the left as that's not his natural side.
Stellini, and Tottenham fans for that matter, just need some positive news to lift the mood in north London at present. A boost on the injury front ahead of Saturday's clash with Brighton would be a start with Champions League qualification on the line.
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