Thomas Frank confident Spurs star will be fit for start of season – and praises ‘impressive’ Sarr after beating Arsenal | OneFootball

Thomas Frank says he is confident that striker Dominic Solanke will be fit for the start of the Premier League season.

Solanke again missed out as Spurs beat Arsenal 1-0 in a pre-season friendly in Hong Kong.

But providing an update on the 27-year-old after the victory, Tottenham head coach Frank said he could be back for their next friendly against Newcastle.

“He’s getting closer,” he said.

“We will see if he is close enough for Newcastle, if not I’m positive for Bayern.”

Destiny Udogie also missed out with the knee injury he has suffered, while Kōta Takai is sidelined with a foot problem.

Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin also continue to work their way back from their respective injury problems suffered last season.

Pape Sarr gave Spurs the win over their north London rivals with a fantastic long-range effort from near the halfway line, catching Gunners goalkeeper David Raya off his line.

And Frank says he has been very impressed by the midfielder since his arrival at the club as new head coach.

“It was an unbelievable goal,” he said. “Fantastic and well taken.

“All the credit to Pape. He’s impressed me, I must admit. He’s been really good in the last four weeks.”

Frank also says it was encouraging to see his new side respond to the messages he has been trying to get across.

“It was very pleasing of course, because it was clear that this was not a friendly,” he said.

“It felt like a competitive match and I think you saw it was competitive. We played it as very competitive.

“Something we’ve been working hard on is the combination of the defensive organisation, so high pressure, middle and low, those clear principles, but also that desire to keep a clean sheet because that makes you have a big opportunity to win football matches.”