Thomas Frank hopeful Dominic Solanke will be back before the new year | OneFootball

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank says he hopes striker Dominic Solanke will be back playing before January.

Solanke has been out since August with an ankle injury and has not yet started a competitive game for Spurs under Thomas Frank.

Asked if Solanke could take part in a friendly during this international break, Frank said: “Most likely not.”

Then questioned on whether the Englishman could be back before the turn of the year, the Dane said: “I do hope so.

“Let’s see what will happen after the international break. We’re still going steps forward, so it’s on track so far.”

Tottenham take on Manchester United this weekend and it will be a reunion for Frank with a former player of his, Bryan Mbeumo, who he worked with for six years at Brentford.

And Frank was full of praise for the forward ahead of the game. “Right now I think he’s close to – not the perfect player – but a complete winger in many ways. He’s got pace, he can dribble, he can cross, he can score goals, he works incredibly hard. He’s a good team player.”

Mbeumo has just been awarded the Premier League Player of the Month award for his blistering form last month, in which he scored three goals and registered one assist.

Spurs could certainly do with a player like that as they have had attacking problems recently, scoring only four goals in five games before they thrashed Copenhagen 4-0 in the Champions League.

Frank said: “Free-flow attacking is not at the level we want yet, which I think is quite natural with where we are, new players, a few injuries, it’s part of the process. No excuses, it’s up to me to put a competitive team out there.”