Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that Richarlison will miss Tottenham’s trip to Aston Villa despite reports the forward had made an ahead-of-schedule recovery from a knee problem.
Spurs travel to face top-four rivals Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday as the two teams battle it out for Champions League qualification.
The north Londoners will again be without the services of Richarlison, however, despite conflicting reports surrounding his fitness this week, though Pedro Porro is available.
“Everyone from last week is available. Pedro is good, he’s trained this week. Everyone else, including Richy, is still not training.,” Postecoglou said at his pre-match press conference.
Postecoglou discussed the importance of the club’s forward options in the recent absences of Richarlison and Son Heung-min, praising January recruit Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson for their contribution in recent weeks.
“I think he’s been really important,” Postecoglou said on Werner.
“If we hadn’t brought him in there would have been far more of a burden on the other players, especially with Sonny away. We threw him straight in. He’s made an impact but I think he can get even better.
“I don’t know about difficult decisions. They’re easy decisions,” the Australian continued when discussing potential selection headaches.
“The good thing about Brennan is he’s contributing. Overall his year we’ve seen growth in him playing in a way that is different for him. They’re all there in front of me with the opportunity to start or not start.”
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