Ange Postecoglou has revealed Tottenham are set to be without Micky van de Ven and James Maddison until January.

Centre-back Van de Ven and midfielder Maddison suffered hamstring and ankle injuries respectively in Monday’s 4-1 loss at home to Chelsea.

Spurs also had Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie sent off during their first defeat of the season, which means Postecoglou will be without several key players for Saturday’s trip to Wolves.

“Fair to say a fair bit happened after Monday,” boss Postecoglou reflected.

“Micky obviously with that hamstring injury, we knew it was fairly significant, probably a couple of months for him looking into the new year.

“Madders is a lot worse than we thought. He came off with an ankle injury and the next day wasn’t great, so we sent him for a scan. Again probably into the new year for him.

“Richy (Richarlison) should only be a month so not too long after international break, so they are the main ones, but we’ve got a couple of suspensions as well.

“Ben Davies is back and available. (Pedro) Porro is fine, he trained no problem.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has softened his opinion over Trent Alexander-Arnold’s versatility as a potential midfielder but still believes he best serves the team from his natural right-sided role.

Just over two years ago, after the 25-year-old was deployed in a central position against Andorra by England boss Gareth Southgate, Klopp said there was no need to change the defender into a midfielder.

Those lines have been blurred since Alexander-Arnold started performing the hybrid role of stepping into central areas when Liverpool are in possession and Klopp took it one step further in last month’s Carabao Cup win at Bournemouth when he brought him on to replace holding midfielder Wataru Endo for the final half-hour.

Alexis Mac Allister has been performing the number-six role in the Premier League despite it being an unfamiliar one to him but the Argentina international is suspended for Sunday’s visit of Brentford after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.

Endo, who was a late addition to the squad in August, has started only one league game in the role but was already off the pitch by the time the side forged a late comeback at Newcastle.

His starts have mainly come in the Carabao Cup and Europe but he was one of a number of players who underperformed in the 3-2 defeat by Toulouse and his display was not the best preparation – he was replaced at half-time – to step in for Mac Allister at the weekend.

Klopp was asked whether Alexander-Arnold was a potential option, considering how thin the midfield resources are with Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic long-term absentees, Curtis Jones out till after the international break and Ryan Gravenberch doubtful with a knee problem.

“(A) possibility, depends on the situation and the opponent, on a lot of things,” said the German.

“We know he can play there but if we just put him there we lose one of the best right-backs in the world so we should not forget that completely.

“Of course he is an option for that position.”

Mac Allister was one of only two players retained from Sunday’s draw at Luton to start against Toulouse as Klopp knew he would get an enforced rest this weekend.

But, even in his preferred position slightly further forward, the World Cup winner struggled like many of his team-mates as Liverpool’s three-match winning run in the competition came to an end and placed greater significance on their final two games – even though they are still group leaders.

“We were not good enough defensively. We missed so many challenges and that cannot happen when we play with the high line,” Mac Allister told liverpoolfc.com.

“It is what it is, we will try to improve and go again on Sunday because we have a very important game.”

Mac Allister was involved in the most contentious incident of the night when Jarell Quansah’s last-minute equaliser was ruled out for a handball by the Argentinian after a VAR referral.

“It’s a weird one because the referee said goal and then 10 seconds later he changed the decision,” he added.

“I don’t know exactly how the rule is but it first hit my chest so it’s weird. But it’s not an excuse, we didn’t play well.”

Sir Jim Ratcliffe could finalise a deal to become a minority shareholder at Manchester United during the upcoming international break.

Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group is expected to pay in the region of £1.25billion for a 25 per set stake in the Old Trafford club, while also acquiring significant control over footballing operations.

There is no a firm timetable for the deal to be finalised, but the PA news agency understands it could come as early as next week, with Ineos optimistic it will be done before the Premier League campaign resumes on November 25 after the international break.

Reports that the deal could come as soon as Monday have, however, been dismissed as that is the date of Sir Bobby Charlton’s funeral.

It is almost a year since the Glazer family announced, on November 22, 2022, that they were considering “strategic alternatives” to help the club grow, which included consideration of a sale.

Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Ratcliffe emerged from a large field of interested parties, and made offers in the region of £5bn for a complete takeover, but that fell short of the Glazer family’s valuation.

Sheikh Jassim then withdrew from the process last month, while Ratcliffe continued to pursue a minority shareholding which could later be increased.

The 71-year-old, who tried to buy Chelsea last year, grew up in the Manchester region and describes himself as a lifelong fan of United.

The deal is expected to lead to a major shake up of United’s football operations. Sir Dave Brailsford, the former performance director of British Cycling, is expected to take on significant influence in his role as Ineos’s director of sport.

The group already owns French Ligue 1 club Nice and Swiss club Lausanne, as well as the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team and Ineos Britannia – the sailing team led by Sir Ben Ainslie.

They also have a stake in Formula One team Mercedes, whose team principal Toto Wolff last week said he would also consider investing in United once Ratcliffe’s deal is completed.

Ongoing speculation and uncertainty over the club’s ownership has come at a time when United are struggling on the pitch.

Wednesday’s stunning 4-3 defeat to Copenhagen has left Erik ten Hag’s side bottom of their Champions League group, while they are eighth in the Premier League, having lost nine of 17 games in all competitions.

Highly-rated striker Evan Ferguson has signed a new contract with Brighton which ties him to the club until 2029.

The 19-year-old Republic of Ireland international has extended his existing deal with the Seagulls, amid reports that other Premier League clubs were tracking his progress.

“Evan deserves this new contract and he has a very big future ahead of him,” Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi said.

Ferguson joined Brighton from Irish side Bohemians in January 2021 and made his first-team debut later that year in a Carabao Cup tie against Cardiff.

He has scored 15 times for the first team since then, having opened his account against Arsenal last December.

Brighton technical director David Weir said: “Evan is a brilliant young talent and we are delighted for him.

“He’s shown his ability at club and international level, after breaking into the team at the start of the year, and we are looking forward to working with him and watching his continued progress.”

Ferguson made his senior Ireland debut in March, scoring in a 3-2 win over Latvia.

Tottenham midfielder James Maddison has been withdrawn from the England squad due to injury.

The 26-year-old was taken off during the first half of Spurs’ 4-1 Premier League defeat to Chelsea on Monday with an ankle injury, and his club have now confirmed he is unavailable for England’s Euro 2024 qualifiers at home to Malta on November 17 and away to North Macedonia on November 20.

Spurs said in a statement that the player would continue his rehabilitation at their Hotspur Way training centre under the supervision of club medical staff.

Maddison had been included in the initial 25-man squad named by England manager Gareth Southgate on Thursday.

England sealed qualification for next summer’s Euros in Germany in their last qualifier, a 2-1 win over Italy at Wembley last month.

What the papers say

Tottenham will look to fill the hole left by Micky van de Ven – who was injured in their 4-1 loss to Chelsea on Monday – identifying Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly as a possible replacement, according to the Standard. Kelly, 25, was a transfer target in the summer and his contract expires at the end of the season.

Arsenal could look for midfield cover in January with Thomas Partey set to be out for the rest of 2023, the Daily Mail says.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Raphael Varane: The Saudi Pro League are after the 30-year-old Manchester United man but the club want to keep him, Football Insider reports.

Florian Wirtz: Liverpool and Chelsea are interested in the 20-year-old Bayer Leverkusen midfielder but they will have to wait until the summer transfer window, TEAMtalk reports.

David Moyes was named as the new head coach of LaLiga side Real Sociedad, on this day in 2014.

Moyes, who was axed by Manchester United the previous April following a dismal first season in charge at Old Trafford, was handed a contract until June 2016 with the Spanish outfit.

Moyes left United just 10 months into a six-year deal after being named as the successor to Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2013.

At the time of his departure, United – the defending champions – were seventh in the Premier League and 23 points behind leaders Liverpool.

The 20-time title winners had broken a host of unwanted records during his tenure, including failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in almost two decades.

Moyes, who served the third-shortest managerial stint in the club’s history, won 27, drew nine and lost 15 of his 51 games in charge.

The former Everton boss took over a Sociedad side who had moved out of the relegation zone a day earlier with a 2-1 home win over champions Atletico Madrid.

Following a goalless draw at Deportivo in his first match in charge, Moyes secured his maiden win with a 3-0 victory over Elche, courtesy of a hat-trick from Carlos Vela.

Sociedad also beat Barcelona 1-0 in January and finished 12th in the table, but Moyes was sacked on November 9, 2015 following a poor start to the following season.

Moyes was appointed Sunderland manager in July 2016 following the departure of Sam Allardyce, but the Black Cats were relegated from the Premier League and Moyes resigned a day after the season ended.

Philippe Clement warned his Rangers players that Europa League knockout football is not yet assured despite a 2-1 win over Sparta Prague taking them in to second place in Group C.

In a thrilling first-half performances Brazilian striker Danilo got the breakthrough after 11 minutes before midfielder Todd Cantwell added a second in the 20th minute but the second half was not so convincing.

Sparta substitute Lukas Haraslin reduced the deficit in the 77th minute and although Danilo soon had the ball in the net again it was ruled out after VAR check for a foul and in the end the Light Blues were glad to hang on.

Real Betis have nine Group C points, Rangers have seven, Sparta Prague have four and Aris Limassol just three.

Rangers host Aris Limassol later in the month and can confirm qualification with a victory before concluding their campaign next month with a trip to Spain to face Real Betis.

However, Clement said: “If there is one thing I don’t want is that the players now think that we are qualified.

“We made a really important step forward that is true but we don’t have anything in our heads for the moment.

“We need to get our points against Aris or against Betis, we still have two games to go.

“It is focus and concentration to try to get three points out of every game and we know that football is a game that you don’t always get what you deserve. There can be circumstances that can go against you so we have to be at the top level every time.”

Clement is unbeaten in six games since taking over the Gers hot seat from Michael Beale – the only blip was a goalless draw against Sparta Prague away – and he claimed the first half was the best so far as he called for a complete 90-minute performance.

He said: “If you see the strength of the opponent, this is the best team we have played against until now, as we did in Prague (0-0).

“The first half  was really good, I want to see that football for 90 minutes, that is the goal.

“We could not do that from the situation we were in a few weeks ago, we need more time for that, to get everyone at the top physical level to do the distances, intensity and high speeds with and without the ball.”

Sparta Prague boss Brian Priske, a former team-mate of Clement at Club Brugge, conceded that Rangers were the better side on the night.

He said: “Yes they were, we have to admit it. Over 90 minutes for sure, they were the better side.

“The first half they really punished us, they played well, created big chances and we struggled creating chances and defending as we normally do.”

Boss Unai Emery admitted Aston Villa got lucky after fighting back to beat AZ Alkmaar.

Ollie Watkins’ winner put them on the brink of qualification in the Europa Conference League after a 2-1 home win.

Yet, the fightback started in controversial fashion when Diego Carlos levelled after Boubacar Kamara had blazed over and referee Luis Godinho mistakenly awarded Villa a corner.

Vangelis Pavlidis gave the hosts a deserved lead but last year’s semi-finalists are now facing an early exit.

Villa are second, behind Legia Warsaw on head-to-head, and a point from their final two games will seal progress from Group E.

Emery said: “It was a very good chance for Kamara, it was fantastic, but it was not a corner, it’s clear, and after this mistake we score.

“I’m very happy because when we are winning a game like tonight we can understand this competition better and the processes we’re trying to build.

“I’m very proud of our work in this competition. We’re getting better.

“We scored one that was offside more or less. We have to accept the referee’s decision, always.

“I’m very proud of our work in this competition. We’re getting better. AZ are a very good team. I’m very happy. The reaction when they scored the goal was fantastic.”

Villa started brightly and Clement Lenglet headed in Leon Bailey’s cross – after Pavlidis blocked Watkins’ goalbound header – only for the winger to have been ruled offside.

Yet the hosts lost their way as the half wore on, Pavlidis tried to lob Emi Martinez and Alkmaar finished on top with Pavlidis testing Martinez.

It turned out the striker was just getting his eye in as he opened the scoring six minutes into the second half.

Villa were caught out by Riechedly Bazoer’s ball over the top and Pavlidis outpaced Lenglet to beat Martinez.

The hosts were not behind for long, though, when Diego Carlos nodded in Bailey’s corner – after the officials had missed it was Kamara who blazed over from six yards.

Villa had the initiative and it was no surprise when Watkins popped up with the winner with nine minutes left, nodding in Douglas Luiz’s clever pass.

Alkmaar boss Pascal Jensen said: “The interesting thing I was looking at was can we compete better in the first game (a 4-1 loss)? In Alkmaar we lost because we conceded two easy goals.

“I was a bit shocked when we started off, we conceded an early goal and we were fortunate it was disallowed. We were very unfortunate to concede a corner which wasn’t, they scored from it and the whole stadium woke up.

“I contacted the fourth official and I asked him and he said ‘I don’t know.’ I think in international competition VAR can come on the radio and help but he didn’t. With all the technology and extra eyes it shouldn’t be possible.”

David Moyes was thrilled to get West Ham’s Europa League campaign back on track after Lucas Paqueta’s goal secured a 1-0 victory over Olympiacos.

The Brazil midfielder crashed in a second-half volley to keep the Hammers on top of Group A and to the brink of qualifying for the knockout stages.

Moyes’ side are also guaranteed European football after Christmas with the worst-case scenario a third-placed finish meaning a return to the Europa Conference League and a chance to defend the trophy they won last season.

They enjoyed a measure of revenge, too, having accused the Greek team of celebrating their 2-1 win in the reverse fixture two weeks ago as if they had won the Europa League itself.

Not only that, but West Ham have now won their last nine home games in Europe since the start of last season, one more than Manchester City.

“We were disappointed to lose our record of 17 unbeaten two weeks ago against Olympiacos, so it’s good to get back on track,” said Moyes.

“We’re top of the group, we still have two matches to play but at the moment I think this is the hardest group we’ve had, in our third year in it, and it’s proved to be the case. We’ve done the job tonight. It’s a great result for us.

“Europe has been great for this football club, we’ve had some great nights and long may they continue.”

Paqueta, the best player on the pitch, broke the deadlock in the 74th minute after Bowen’s square pass found James Ward-Prowse.

The former Southampton midfielder chipped the ball forward into the area for Paqueta to fire home on the volley.

The goal was initially ruled out by an assistant referee’s flag, but a VAR check showed the Brazilian was onside and referee Matej Jug, who had infuriated West Ham with some strange decisions all evening, got the biggest cheer of the night when he signalled a goal.

“I don’t think VAR needed to come to the rescue, it was onside, it was a goal,” added Moyes.

“We needed it because the game was very tight, there was very little in it.

“He took the goal brilliantly tonight but there were lots of things I wanted him to do better. We’ve got room for improvement.”

It was a fourth assist in four European outings for Ward-Prowse, who was overlooked by England again earlier in the day, more than a year after his last call-up.

Paqueta pointedly went to the 3,000 travelling fans to celebrate, probably because the West Ham players were targeted by laser pens from Greek supporters in Athens.

West Ham survived a late scare when Mady Camara rattled a post but they held on to complete their European revenge mission.

Gareth Southgate believes he has the best striker in world football in captain Harry Kane – but admits the Bayern Munich forward would benefit from ending his career-long trophy drought.

Kane has been in scintillating form since moving to Germany from Tottenham in the summer, scoring 19 goals in 15 games for the Bundesliga giants.

He is the record goalscorer for both England and Spurs but has yet to win any major honours during his career.

Kane’s debut for Bayern was in a Super Cup defeat to RB Leipzig while a shock loss to third-tier Saarbrucken in the DFB-Pokal has also dented his chances.

But Bayern currently sit second in the league as they aim for a 12th consecutive title and also boast a 100 per cent record in their Champions League group.

Heading into next summer’s Euros, hosted in Germany, Southgate believes Kane would profit from breaking his trophy duck.

“I think clearly it’s a missing piece for him at the moment,” he said.

“I’m sure if you spoke to all our guys who have won trophies it changes how you view yourself.

“It isn’t going to change what we think he is capable of and isn’t going to change his talent. But in terms of his mindset and how he will feel I’m sure that’s something he will benefit from.

“Any player wants to win trophies, that’s what we are all geared to. He is of course proud of his individual awards but if you talk to him he wants to win something with his club or his country. That’s how he is driven, like they all are.”

Kane enjoyed a prolific spell at Spurs having come up through the ranks with the Premier League club but has taken his game to new heights since opting to leave for the continent in the summer.

Alongside fellow export Jude Bellingham – who is starring for Real Madrid after joining from Borussia Dortmund – Southgate feels he has an unrivalled pairing.

“I think on form it would be hard to beat them,” he said.

“I’m trying to think of everybody’s strike force, to be fair, and see what others have got. But the long and short of it is we’re really happy. We love the pair of them.

“They’re a handful, but also with the wide players we have who have to work for the team as well, the balance of everything at the moment is good.

“It’s great. We want good players who are playing well. I mean, we’re not the only ones with good players playing well, Portugal looks very, very strong. France is obviously very, very strong.

“But you want, ideally, to be going in as one of the favourites and that’s a position over the last couple of tournaments that we’ve been in and that’s where we want to be.

“So, for us it’s brilliant that they’re playing well, it is a bit early for us! But it’s great that you can see the level of the boys and the confidence that they’ll be getting from playing at big clubs in Europe.

“They’ll have a broader feel of where everything sits and perhaps the lads that have only played in England as well.”

Asked if Kane had gone up a level since making the move to Bayern, Southgate added: “His football has always been really good. What’s brilliant for him is he’s taken on a new challenge, a fresh life if you like.

“He’s moved to a big club abroad, which isn’t straightforward, but he’s adaptable unbelievably well. So I think the confidence he will take from that will be enormous.

“It struck me driving home from our last game, we were understandably talking about Jude but Kane had scored two, his overall performance was incredible and looking at the sheet, (his) caps and goals is staggering, really.

“So there is a risk we really underestimate what we’ve got and what we’ve had for the last few years because any team, any country would love him as their number nine.

“It’s not just his ability to score goals. His creative play, his passing, his hold-up play. And I think he’s pressing and working for the team as well as any stage of his career.

“So he really has relished the leadership, the captaincy, loves playing for England, never misses out – touch wood. So he really is a top level player.”

Brennan Johnson is benefiting from the “extreme” demands placed on him by Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou and proving himself to be an elite player, says his Wales manager Rob Page.

Johnson has taken time to settle at Spurs following his £47.5million move from Nottingham Forest during the closing minutes of the summer transfer window.

The 22-year-old forward has yet to score and suffered a hamstring injury on his first Premier League start for Tottenham, ruling him out of action for a month.

Johnson’s second Premier League start against Chelsea on Monday also ended prematurely when he was sacrificed after Spurs were reduced to 10 men by defender Cristian Romero’s red card.

But Johnson has shown signs of promise in North London with a superb assist for Son Heung-min’s winner at Crystal Palace, while he also set up the Spurs skipper for a disallowed effort against Chelsea before his first-half withdrawal.

“Brennan’s at a big, big club now pushing for top four so the demands on him will be extreme,” said Page, who welcomed Johnson back into his squad after injury for this month’s decisive Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey.

“The squad of players he’s got around him now will be slightly different, but I’m not concerned at all. Even by training with the players he’s with will bring him to another level.

“We’ve all seen the potential. When I worked with him at the Under-21s and the younger age groups, I could see he was going to go (to the top).

“It’s taken him a little bit of time to get up to that standard, but he’s shown glimpses of it.

“What is important now is that he sustains that level by playing with those players and the demands of the manager there. He will absolutely do that.”

Johnson has only scored twice in 22 Wales appearances – against Belgium and the Netherlands in the Nations League – and that is a disappointing return for a player considered to be Gareth Bale’s natural successor in the Dragons’ forward line.

Page suggested that is down to the way Wales have previously been structured as a team but he insists, as evidenced by last month’s stunning 2-1 win over World Cup semi-finalists Croatia, they are evolving as an attacking unit.

He said: “The majority of the games in the World Cup and Nations League A we were the underdogs and not going to have a lot of the ball.

“Our defensive structure has to be spot on if not you’re going to get found out, but as we evolve I’m asking more from the forward players and we saw that against Croatia.

“I brought Jack Lester in (as assistant coach), who’s one of the best forwards I played with and coaches I’ve seen. It was an area I wanted to improve and I’ve seen a difference already.”

Wales will avoid the play-offs in March and qualify automatically for next summer’s Euro 2024 finals in Germany if they beat Armenia in Yerevan on November 18 and Turkey in Cardiff three days later.

Page said: “I like Brennan as a nine purely because of his pace. He did that for us in Latvia (when Wales won 2-0 in September) and there’s not a defender out there who’s going to want to play against him and DJ (Daniel James) because pace frightens defenders.

“But I’m not going to pigeonhole him as a nine. He can play in any one of the front three positions easily.”

Liam Scales admits Celtic need to be more streetwise in Europe.

Brendan Rodgers’ side have been very competitive with a full quota of players in the Champions League but three red cards in four games have proved costly.

Daizen Maeda’s dismissal in Spain on Tuesday led to a 6-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid, which leaves Celtic bottom of Group E with one point and in need of wins over Lazio and Feyenoord and favours from Diego Simeone’s team.

Centre-back Scales, who has not been booked in the Champions League, said of the red cards: “It’s probably that we are a young team and maybe a bit naive at times.

“You come and play in Europe and the referees, you get nothing out of them. They are a lot stricter and tackles that you might get away with domestically, they give.

“With VAR, you are going to pick up red cards in the way we’ve been doing.

“It’s frustrating, because I think with 11 players on the pitch we had started the game quite well.

“I know we had conceded earlier before the red card, but I thought we had quite a bit of the ball, and it definitely would have been a more even game with 11 men.”

Scales also believes they need to learn from the animated reaction of the Atletico bench when Maeda made his tackle and was initially booked, before VAR intervened.

Scales said: “To be honest, you see the way they react and all of their staff are up off the bench. It definitely doesn’t help.

“The VAR screen is right beside their bench as well, and he (the referee) was probably feeling the pressure.

“They are definitely more street-smart than us, that’s for sure, the way they influence the referee.

“It’s not the nicest part of the game, but it helps them win games and we could definitely learn from it.”

The manner of defeat has led to some soul-searching among the Celtic support about their level in European football but Scales pointed out they had drawn with Atletico two weeks earlier.

“I think we’re at the level, it’s just naivety and poor decisions at times have let us down,” the Republic of Ireland international said.

“Some of the goals, we could have defended better, we need to look back on that and see what we could have done better defensively.

“But it’s still difficult with 10 men away from home to get results at any level, and especially there.”

Celtic now travel to Rome needing a win on November 28.

“There’s a few games left in the group and now it’s just about bouncing back and doing as well as we can, because the Lazio game was so tight and it could have gone either way, and we feel that we can go there and get a result,” Scales said.

“It’s the same with Feyenoord at home. We were doing well in Feyenoord up until the couple of red cards, and the same happened here.

“I think we just have to bounce back, that’s it.”

Ange Postecoglou has done a phenomenal job since taking over at Tottenham and was a natural choice to oversee the club's rebuild due to his charismatic personality.

That is the view of former England striker Emile Heskey, who came up against Postecoglou in the A-League during a two-year spell in Australia with Newcastle Jets between 2012 and 2014.

Postecoglou has had a remarkable impact on Spurs since taking charge, making the best start by any manager in Premier League history by overseeing a return of 26 points from his first 10 games in the competition.

Tottenham trail champions Manchester City by just a single point at the summit ahead of Saturday's trip to Wolves, having suffered their first league defeat under Postecoglou last time out.

Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were both sent off as Spurs fell to a 4-1 defeat to Chelsea on Monday, though Postecoglou still earned praise for implementing a daring high line with nine men.

Heskey thinks Postecoglou's openness and willingness to take inspiration from different cultures has helped him succeed, telling Stats Perform: "Ange has been fantastic. 

"I obviously played in Australia for two years, and I saw some of the stuff that the Aussie coaches can do, [it's] very, very technical. 

"A lot of them work off the Dutch philosophy, but with a bit of Aussie grit, they love that. But then he obviously went over to Japan in different places, so he probably learnt the discipline from them.

"Working with that and getting some of that stuff, bringing it over to Europe… what he did at Celtic was phenomenal. 

"Now taking that step into Spurs – and Spurs is a big club – we've got to give it to them. 

"The training ground, the stadium, they're building a squad, they're in London. They should be where they are right now. 

"He's probably the right manager to actually build that, the right manager to take a lot of the pressure away because he's approachable, he's charismatic, he's got everything. 

"He takes a lot of the pressure away from the place that so they can actually perform as well."

Tottenham's flying start to the season has come despite the loss of their all-time leading goalscorer Harry Kane, who is in exceptional form for his new club Bayern Munich, scoring 19 goals and adding seven assists in just 15 appearances for the Bundesliga champions.

Though Heskey accepts Kane's departure may have altered expectations at Spurs, he does not believe it can be seen as a positive for the club.

"I don't know if it [losing Kane] was a bonus," Heskey said. "You can't say getting rid of Harry Kane was a bonus because of what he's doing and what he's done. 

"But I think it's a different focal point now, isn't it? I think it's more of a team focal point. Not just one player. 

"You've got Son [Heung-min], he has to step up to the plate, you've got [James] Maddison, who will always step up to the plate, that's just his temperament. 

"You've got all these players that are now having to pull their weight because they're not just relying on one person."

Postecoglou is looking to avoid back-to-back defeats when Spurs visit Wolves on Saturday, having not lost consecutive league matches since he was in charge of Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, losing three in a row between November 2020 and February 2021.

Ollie Watkins came to Aston Villa’s rescue as Unai Emery’s side hit back to beat AZ Alkmaar.

The striker celebrated his England call-up to nod in with nine minutes left for a 2-1 win and put Villa on the brink of the Europa Conference League knockout stages.

Diego Carlos’ controversial goal – heading in a corner which should have never been given – quickly cancelled out Vangelis Pavlidis’ opener.

Victory left Villa joint-top of Group E, behind Legia Warsaw on their head-to-head record, knowing a point from their final two games would guarantee progress.

Legia’s 2-0 win over Zrinjski Mostar earlier on Thursday had put the Polish side three points clear in the group.

Villa knew victory would virtually secure second spot and their superiority was telling early, the hosts thinking they had the lead after just three minutes.

Ezri Konsa’s shot was deflected behind and, from the corner, Watkins header was cleared off the line by Pavlidis. The ball ran to Leon Bailey and his cross was nodded in by Clement Lenglet – only for VAR to rule the goal out with Bailey offside.

Lenglet almost gifted Alkmaar an opener, though, when Pavlidis seized on his loose pass and tried to lob Emi Martinez before horribly misjudging Ibrahim Sadiq’s superb cross.

Mat Ryan tipped Youri Tielemans’ shot behind as Villa looked to regain some momentum but there would have been frustration for Emery as their early edge slipped away.

Alkmaar even had their own goal disallowed three minutes before the break when a neat move ended with Pavlidis tapping in, although the striker was comfortably offside.

The striker then tested Martinez after Villa played themselves into trouble as the visitors ended the half on top.

It proved a warning sign as, six minutes into the second half, the striker opened the scoring with a goal of pure simplicity.

Villa were caught out by Riechedly Bazoer’s ball over the top as Pavlidis ran clear of Lengent and beat Martinez for his 15th goal of the season.

Alkmaar had something to cling to, having been 3-0 down at the same stage in the Netherlands two weeks ago, and Yuki Sugawara’s shot deflected wide.

Yet Villa contentiously levelled after an hour. Lucas Digne’s cross was blazed over by Boubacar Kamara but referee Luis Godinho inexplicably gave a corner.

Somewhat inevitably, when Bailey delivered the ball Diego Carlos nodded in.

It gave Villa renewed confidence and, with time running out, Watkins grabbed the winner when he stole in ahead of Jordy Clasie to nod in Douglas Luiz’s fine pass.