Dominic Solanke targets Tottenham return ‘in very near future’ after surgery | OneFootball

Dominic Solanke has targeted a return for Tottenham “in the very near future” after successful minor surgery on his ankle.

England forward Solanke has endured an injury-hit few months and only featured three times this season, with his last appearance for Spurs on August 23 against Manchester City.

After a lengthy lay-off in pre-season with the same issue, Solanke’s absence over the past five weeks has sparked a flurry of questions for new boss Thomas Frank and he finally underwent surgery on Wednesday.

“The last few months have been very frustrating as I’ve tried everything possible to try and push through my ankle issue before taking the option of surgery,” Tottenham’s £65million forward Solanke said on Instagram.

“None of this managed to solve the problem, so we had to go ahead with minor surgery, which I underwent this morning.

“It was all successful so hopefully I’ll be back on the pitch in the very near future. Thank you for all your love and messages.”

Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at Bodo/Glimt was the sixth match Solanke has missed this season and stand-in captain Micky van de Ven admitted to being disappointed at the team’s overall performance in Norway.

Spurs had to fight back from being 2-0 down after two fine second-half strikes by Jens Petter Hauge to leave with a point in the Champions League.

Van de Ven was given the armband in the absence of injured captain Cristian Romero and started the comeback with a 68th-minute header for his maiden goal in the competition before Archie Gray’s low shot forced an 89th-minute own-goal from Jostein Gundersen.

“A tough game, really tough and 2-0 down, so I think we can be happy with a point,” Van de Ven told SpursPlay.

“It’s a nice feeling (to score) and I’m happy also we get the point otherwise if you lose 2-1 and you score it doesn’t matter, but happy to score my first goal (in the Champions League).

“Yeah, really proud moment. I am happy to help the team as well today. I was hoping for a better performance from our team, but I am happy with the point and a really proud moment for myself and my family (to be captain).”

A flying header by Dutchman Van de Ven from Pedro Porro’s cross came 146 seconds after Bodo’s second goal.

The Spurs centre-back acknowledged the instant reply was significant, adding: “That is also important because I think that gives some extra pressure on them.

“They knew if we score the 2-1 straight away, they need to drop and we are coming. I think we played really well after this and got the point.”

It is the third time in September that Tottenham have been forced to come from behind to claim a point.

Spurs trailed by two goals at Brighton and required an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time on Saturday to rescue a point at home to Wolves.

Centre-back Kevin Danso added: “Our mentality came out. I think that is the third time this season we have been down and come back.”