Dominic Solanke of Tottenham in action during the Premier League match between Leicester City FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at The King Power Stadium on August 19, 2024 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Ange Postecoglou has given an update on the fitness of striker Dominic Solanke ahead of Tottenham’s trip to Manchester United this weekend.
Solanke endured a disrupted start to life at Spurs following his big summer move from Bournemouth.
The one-time England international failed to score in any of his first three appearances for the club, while he spent a couple of weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury.
However, Solanke seems to be hitting his stride, scoring his first goal for the club in a 3-1 win over Brentford last weekend and following that up with a goal and an assist in Thursday’s 3-0 Europa League win against Qarabag.
Spurs boss Postecoglou gives Solanke fitness update
Solanke has managed 88 and 85 minutes in his last two outings, respectively.
Postecoglou has admitted he’d rather have brought him off sooner but the in-game circumstances forced his hand; especially with Spurs playing most of Thursday’s match with 10 men following Radu Dragusin’s red card.
However, the Australian is happy with Solanke’s progress and believes he’s approaching his peak, which is great timing considering Spurs travel to Old Trafford on Sunday.
“He’s getting there,” Postecoglou said of Solanke following Thursday’s home win (via Tottenham’s official website).
“Like I said, he didn’t do pre-season with us and then he has one game and then he’s out for two weeks, while the other guys were building up their match fitness.
“He is getting there and probably played longer than I wanted for him to play tonight, just the circumstances of the game, but the one thing about him is he just keeps going.
“It was great for him to get another goal, but his all-round performance was really strong. When you’re down to 10 men, you need your striker to be able to hold up the play and do some hard running, which I thought he did.”
Top photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
