Premier League: Spurs’ Van de Ven available for Luton game, says Postecoglou

Tottenham Hotspur has been boosted by the return of Micky van de Ven for its Premier League clash against Luton Town after the defender recovered from a hamstring injury, manager Ange Postecoglou said on Friday.

The 22-year-old Dutchman missed Spurs’ shock 3-0 loss at Fulham, which left it in fifth place and three points adrift of fourth-placed Aston Villa, who has played a game more.

Spurs hosts Luton, 17th in the table, on Saturday.

“All the internationals got through unscathed. They’ve come back all good. Micky was the one who missed the last game. He’s trained the last couple of days and is available,” Postecoglou told reporters.

The Australian also said Richarlison’s fitness is being managed after the Brazilian striker was an unused substitute during his country’s friendly matches against England and Spain.

“He is okay. He’s had a knee niggle that we’ve been managing and Brazil managed him, but he trained today and feels good,” Postecoglou said.

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Earlier in the week, Richarlison opened up about his battle with depression after Brazil’s quarterfinal loss to Croatia at the 2022 World Cup and had also urged players to seek help for mental health issues.

Postecoglou said the 26-year-old has taken responsibility for spreading awareness about mental health.

“If we strip it all back, we’re all just human beings. He has benefited from the support that exists — he’s benefited from it so directly. He’s taken on responsibility of trying to share that around,” Postecoglou said.

“It always makes more impact when it’s someone high profile or someone that people think doesn’t have any problems, and it’s seen as a sign of weakness to ask for help. It’s a great conduit for others to reach out and see you can get help when required.

“We’ve all got challenges and problems in our lives, there is help out there and hopefully it doesn’t get to a point where it is so overwhelming it affects everything you do. It’s a credit to Richi — he sought help and now he wants others to benefit from it.”