Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou issues Pape Matar Sarr update after fresh injury scare | OneFootball

The midfielder sparked new concerns after being withdrawn against Aston Villa

Spurs are already without creative midfielders Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall for Wednesday's season-defining Europa League Final against Manchester United, so the sight of Sarr gingerly heading for the dressing room after being replaced in the 51st minute was a concern.

The Senegalese is a leading contender to start in midfield against United in Bilbao, although Postecoglou used a 4-4-2 formation at Villa Park, suggesting he could be preparing to change his system for the Final.

Postecoglou added: "I think Mikey [Moore, who went down in the second half] was okay. It was fatigue as much as anything else. He hasn’t played that sort of amount of minutes before."

Pape Matar Sarr playing against Aston Villa

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Postecoglou has tended to play down recent injuries in their immediate aftermath, saying Bergvall and Maddison had suffered "tweaks" before they were ruled out for the rest of the season with ligament damage and describing Kulusevski's injury as a "knock" shortly before he underwent knee surgery.

With full focus on the final, the head coach named a weakened team at Villa Park, with only captain Heung-min Son and potentially Sarr likely to start again midweek. Son came through 74 minutes on his first start since April 10, as second-half goals from Ezri Konsa and Boubacar Kamara condemned Spurs to a 21st League defeat of the campaign.

"[Son] playing 70, 75 minutes today was important and you could see he opened up a couple of times," Postecoglou said. "It's as much about Sonny himself, and feeling that he's getting back into a rhythm and I think there were moments tonight where he showed that.

"It's important [to have him back], especially when we've lost some key players in recent times. Madders is also one of the leaders, and Deki, and Lucas in the last three weeks. Now getting Sonny back at least gives us another experienced player.

"I think the last two or three fixtures, our average age has been three or four years younger than the opposition. You can see that at times, so just having another experienced player available is great for the team."

Come Wednesday, knock on wood, they are all available and that’s the most important thing

Postecoglou on his first-choice defence

Postecoglou left defenders Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie out of his squad altogether against Unai Emery's side, meaning the trio will not have played for a fortnight - since the semi-final decider against Bodo/Glimt - if they line up against United, as expected.

"They are available. For us there’s no point bringing them here, they weren’t going to play today," Postecoglou said.

"They stayed at home, they did a really strong [training] session and come Wednesday, knock on wood, they are all available and that’s the most important thing. That’s the primary thing. When those guys play, that back four with Vic in goal, our chances of success significantly improve.

"If something happened to them today then they wouldn’t be available and I just don’t think that be would the smart course for us to take."