Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou aims dig at Arsenal and other Premier League rivals as he says he’s seen ‘so much violin playing’ over injuries

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou joked about his side’s Premier League rivals and praised his side’s players for the way they stepped up for injured stars.

Spurs are facing an injury crisis of their own and played out a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Fulham on Sunday.

Center back Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven were missing again, while Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin started for the third time in a week.

‘I’ve seen so much violin playing [other teams having] One central defender, but we just have to keep going,” Postecoglou told reporters.

He added: “Benny and Radu have been excellent throughout this period. I mean, there aren’t many teams in the league that have both centre-backs out. The great thing about it is that these guys are, and I love that.

‘I love the characters they show. I love that they don’t make excuses or want me to take them into consideration.

‘But at some point I also have to recognize the enormous effort that all these guys put in. Radu and Ben were excellent again today.’

Both Arsenal and Man City took some of the blame for their poor results this season due to injuries to key players such as Martin Odegaard and Rodri.

Postecoglou is hopeful injury-hit Tottenham will have reinforcements for Thursday’s trip to Bournemouth.

Dominic Solanke was the latest Spurs player to join a growing list of absentees after being sent home unwell on the morning of Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Fulham.

That left eight players unavailable for Tottenham, but the former Bournemouth striker could be fit enough to make his return to the Vitality Stadium, with other recent absentees also on course for comebacks.

Postecoglou said of England international Solanke: ‘I hope so. He trained (Saturday) but he came in and didn’t look good at all, so we sent him home.

‘It’s obviously an illness and not an injury so we’ll have to see how it develops over the next few days but hopefully it’s nothing serious.’

Archie Gray had to be substituted after coming on against Fulham, but Postecoglou revealed it was just a ‘dead leg’ for the versatile midfielder.

Cristian Romero has not played for Tottenham since before the international break due to a toe problem.

Postecoglou was cautious about whether the Argentine defender would return for the midweek clash.

“Potentially,” Postecoglou admitted. He still hasn’t trained with the team, so he’s getting closer, but he still hasn’t trained with the team.

“So he and Micky (van de Ven) still work with sports scientists. So hopefully not too far away.”