Ange rues Spurs on sidelines

ANGE POSTECOGLOU wishes his Tottenham side had a far more hectic finish to the season ahead.

Spurs have just 13 Premier League games left this season. And having had no European football and crashed out of both domestic cup competitions early, they will play just 41 times this campaign, a league low matched only by rock-bottom strugglers Sheffield United.

In contrast their two nearest challengers for a top four spot, Aston Villa and Manchester United, still have cup commitments to juggle along with their league duties.

FA Cup quarter-finalists United will play a minimum of 50 games. Villa are into the Europa Conference League last-16 and will hit 52 at least.

That lesser workload may appear to be in Spurs’ favour but Postecoglou (above) said: “A club like us who want to compete at the highest level against the best, you need a strong squad and to have a strong squad you need consistent games and consistent game time and opportunities.

“If we get an injury then we’re liable to throw somebody who hasn’t played for four or five weeks. It’s not easy on that player.

“I had the other extreme last year of 60-plus games at Celtic. I found that a lot easier to manage than having less games or a disrupted season like we’ve had this year.

“Absolutely, 1,000 percent I’d rather be in

Europe at this time playing games.”

Spurs last played a fortnight ago, suffering a

2-1 home defeat against Wolves. And along with the impact of adjusting to a new high-intensity training regime, he believes the stop-start nature of their season has also contributed to their injury issues.

In-form striker Richarlison has increased them after picking up a knee problem against Wolves which will rule him out for up to four weeks.

Ahead of his side’s return to action against Crystal Palace, Postecoglou added: “Some of our disruption is self-inflicted, if we had better runs in the cups and were in Europe.

“We haven’t been able to get the same flow and rhythm into our schedule. One way to remedy that is to get more games for ourselves next year.”

Left-back Ryan Sessegnon (left) has been another injury victim, having season-ending hamstring surgery after a setback in his rehab.