Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has revealed that Micky van de Ven will not be available for Thursday's EFL Cup semi-final clash against Liverpool.
Spurs will travel to Anfield with a narrow lead after claiming a 1-0 victory in last month's home meeting with Arne Slot's side.
They already knew they would go into the second leg without the services of Radu Dragusin, who is set to miss the rest of the season after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Tottenham were also aware that Cristian Romero was unlikely to return in time, with Spurs taking a cautious approach in the final stages of his injury recovery.
However, there was seemingly hope that Van de Ven could play a role after returning from injury in last week's Europa League win over Elfsborg.
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Postecoglou confirms Van de Ven absence for Liverpool clash
The Dutchman played the first half against the Swedish to get valuable minutes under his belt, only to be a notable absentee from Sunday's 2-0 win over Brentford.
Postecoglou insisted on Sunday that Van de Ven was missing from the Premier League win because Spurs were keen to manage him ahead of the upcoming semi-final.
However, the Tottenham boss has now revealed that the centre-back will not be ready to play a role in the second leg at Anfield.
"It's a bit of everything," Postecoglou told reporters in Wednesday's pre-match conference. "He got through the game no problem, but we had a look at the figures towards the physical [side] you know, he does a lot more training and he got through it OK, but the Premier League's a whole different beast.
"And after losing Radu, I kind of sat down and thought about what we've got ahead of us still, look, don't get me wrong, we've got a couple of massive games this week for sure, but we've also afforded ourselves a couple of weeks, hopefully without midweek fixtures, and beyond that, Europe kicks in, which is massive for us.
"Hopefully we're in the final of the Carabao Cup, hopefully, we're still in the FA Cup. I just don't see the sense right now in risking that.
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Postecoglou eases fears over fresh injury
While Van de Ven will not be involved on Thursday, Postecoglou was keen to stress that the defender has not suffered a fresh injury setback.
"He hasn't re-injured the injury or anything like that, it's just that I just feel we need to get more into him," the Tottenham boss added.
"I think he feels he needs to get more into him, same with Romero, so it'll just be a wait-and-see approach."
In positive news, Postecoglou has confirmed that recent arrivals Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel will be available to play a role in the second leg.
Spurs are hoping to reach the EFL Cup final for the first time since 2020-21 when they finished runners-up to Manchester City.
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