Presser points | Aston Villa vs Spurs | Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou spoke to the media on Thursday afternoon, ahead of our Premier League clash against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Friday evening (7.30pm UK).

Here's what he had to say...

Ange's latest on Dejan Kulusevski's knee injury...

"Disappointing news. Initially we thought it wasn’t too serious. The medical team were worried structurally about how the knee was, but it blew up the day after and we knew there was an issue there. He has had surgery, and it will put him out for at least a few months."

Will he be fit for the start of next season?

"We will see. To be honest, I have only got basic information at the moment in terms of recovery, but it will certainly put him out for a while."

Ange on another injury in that attacking midfield area of the pitch...

"It’s just reflective and consistent with everything else that has happened this season. I have said a few times that we just haven’t had a smooth run of things. Every time we look like getting to a place where we look in decent shape, squad wise or personnel wise, invariably we have been hit. The last few weeks, again, it’s just circumstance that it has happened in the one area of the park."

Ange on the chances of Lucas Bergvall making a recovery from his injury in time for the final...

"No, it is still the same sort of timeframe. He was never a long-term one, but he has literally just got out of the boot and taken his first tentative steps on the grass, he won’t be available."

Ange on the integrity of the Premier League being a consideration as we face Villa...

"We are certainly going to go out there and try to win the game tomorrow and put out a team that hopefully gets the job done. I’m not sure about the integrity. There have been times this year when we have had to field weakened teams because of injury. Does that affect the integrity? People are thinking there is some sort of competitive balance that exists that doesn’t exist over the course of the season. I would be very surprised if people were questioning our integrity to try to win a game tomorrow."

Ange on what he wants to see from the players at Villa Park...

"Look, we understand the challenging situation we’re in and particularly the players when you’re making seven or eight changes in a team line-up, throwing players together, it is very difficult for them. Even in that context, I thought the group could have performed better on the day (against Palace) collectively and individually. That is the challenge for the players, to try to seize the opportunity that is before them. There is a game tomorrow where we obviously want to try to perform well and pick up a result, but also it’s an opportunity for them to put their name forward for the big game the following week. As we’ve already seen in the past couple of weeks, as much as you would like to think there is an ideal starting line-up, things happen and players need to be ready for that. Tomorrow night is an opportunity for those guys to put their hand up."

Ange on if our latest injuries have affected morale in the squad...

"Look, I guess because it’s been a constant with us during the year, we’ve kind of become almost accustomed to it. It would probably be a bigger issue if we had a smooth run all year and got hit with injuries now and dealing with missing key players, but we’ve pretty much been without key players all season. There hasn’t been a time where we had a three or four week spell with our strongest line-up, so the boys are getting on with it. They’re disappointed for the people involved and Deki being the latest one, because he had a fantastic first part of the year for us and was just working his way back into it. At the same time, as I keep saying to the group all along, you can’t pick and choose when these opportunities come along. There could be other years where we don’t have these disruptions and injuries, but we don’t get to a final. The reality of it is now the opportunity is there and whatever happens between now and then, we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for it."

Ange's latest on Heung-Min Son's fitness...

“He'll definitely play tomorrow. Whether we start him or not, we’ll have a look at, but he reacted well to playing the other day. There were no issues with his foot, he’s trained well and it makes sense for him to get more match-minutes. It could be as a starter and if not, he’ll definitely play at least half a game tomorrow."

Ange on Josh Keeley and Jamie Donley helping Leyton Orient get to Wembley for the League One play-off final...

"I watched the game last night, it was a cracking game and super pleased for both of them. You know, when players go on loan, obviously the key is for them to get match minutes and development, I think both of those guys have, but it's even better if they're part of something that could be special for them in terms of success. I think that helps as well in terms of their own self-belief and and being part of something successful. So yes, super pleased with them, it'll be a great occasion and hopefully they get through."

Ange on Timo Werner's absence...

"He has a hamstring injury."

Ange on 'being gutted' for Deki...

"Yes, gutted for him, gutted for Lucas and gutted for Madders and Radu, because, say all four of those, it's not like - knock on wood because we've had enough of those - but it's not like a muscle injury or anything. It's just circumstance, stuff that probably happens in every football game, but it doesn't have the damage that it did and unfortunately for them it came at the wrong time of the year. I thought there was real growth in Deki this year. We integrated him into a new position which I think he was really getting to grips with and really making an impact. He's grown as a player this year, captained his country and then got hit with a foot injury, which set him back. Typical him, he worked hard at rehab and was really important for us away at Bodo and started looking like he was getting back to himself, which would have been great for us, so for him to get another setback is is disappointing. Mentally, he's a very strong guy and I'm sure he'll use this as a catalyst to come back stronger."

Ange on the potential time Deki might be out...

"No, it wouldn't be anywhere near 12 months, but again, me putting a timeframe on wouldn't be right because he only had the surgery yesterday (Wednesday). We'll get some more information and a lot of that just depends on how players progress. It's fair to say months, but how many months I wouldn't speculate at the moment."

Ange on potentially 'protecting' players at Villa...

"We'll see, we've got training today and it's a bit of a balancing act. We obviously tried to navigate that last week by protecting a few, which we had to, and it still didn't work out, we still lost a player, so I'll take all that into consideration over the next few hours..."