Postecoglou won’t rush Romero back despite Spurs’ injuries

Ange Postecoglou has insisted he will not rush Cristian Romero's return from injury, despite Tottenham's quick turnaround between Thursday's Europa League match and Sunday's visit of Fulham.

Central defender Romero has been struggling with a toe injury for the past month and was forced to leave international duty with Argentina early because of the problem before sitting out both the City match and Thursday night's European match.

“Romero is closer (to a return), he's probably the closest,” Spurs boss Postecoglou said.

'It's probably unlikely he'll be involved against Fulham, but I wouldn't rule him out.'

Micky van de Ven, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison are still absent, while Rodrigo Bentancur is serving a long-term domestic ban for his alleged racist comment about captain Son Heung-min.

Postecoglou said his side's identity is not about to change – even if it means dropping points playing up front.

“There is plenty of room for pragmatism in different walks of life and also in football, but I'm just not interested in it,” he added.

'I don't know why I have to change my approach to be what everyone wants me to be. I will continue to push this team to be a little different, to play football in a different way – and maybe when I am long gone, you will all be longing for my entertainment, and you will have had enough of pragmatism. '

Postecoglou added: “We haven't achieved anything yet, we haven't done everything we want to do yet, so if I start being pragmatic we may never get there.

'I enjoyed our last 20 minutes of the first half (in the 2-2 draw against Roma). We should have scored a third goal which would have ended the game, but we were exciting to watch – and that's what I want.”