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TOTTENHAM suffered yet another injury blow as Radu Dragusin was forced off.

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou has vented his frustration with recent squad setbacks ahead of IF Elfsborg’s Europa League trip.

AFP

Radu Dragusin was forced off injured[/caption]

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It is yet another injury blow for Spurs[/caption] https://twitter.com/footballontnt/status/1885077122407960940

He planned to take off centre-back Micky van de Ven at half-time against to ensure he keeps his backline fresh.

But it was replacement Dragusin who picked up a knee injury when the defender went down off the ball after a tussle with striker Jalal Abdullai.

He was taken off – replaced by forward Dane Scarlett – as replays revealed Dragusin coming down on his knee awkwardly.

TNT Sports’ Glenn Hoddle: “That looks quite serious because look, he plays the ball there and then he’s landed and wow, he holds his knee.”

Spurs have NINE first-team players sidelined through injury, including defenders Djed Spence, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie.

Keeper Guglielmo Vicario, Wilson Odobert, Timo Werner, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and James Maddison are also out.

Postecoglou – who has blamed Tottenham’s woeful league form on injuries – did make light of Dragusin’s knock.

The outspoken Aussie pretended to pull his hamstring when stretching for a ball that went out of play.

Spurs cruised into the last 16 of the Europa League thanks to goals in the final 20 minutes from Scarlett, Oyindamola Ajayi and Mikey Moore.

And on Dragusin’s injury, he said: “It is too early to say what it is, we will need to investigate futher. But it was his knee which is not good.

“We have another game on Sunday. The club will be working hard behind the scenes to see if we can get something done.”

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Ange Postecoglou celebrates victory[/caption]

DAMIEN DUFF has long since established his credentials as a manager who is prepared to get his hands dirty.

And, yesterday, he whipped out the WD40 but it was not the wheels of Shelbourne’s title defence he was looking to oil.

By common consensus, the ex-Chelsea and Ireland star has helped to sprinkle a bit of stardust on a league which was already on the up.

His embracing of the League of Ireland in general and Shels in particular helped it reach wider acclaim.

It culminated in a record TV audience for their final-day victory away to Derry City which ensured they brought Shamrock Rovers’ four-year reign as champions to an end.

But he bristled at the suggestion that Shels would be looking to ‘defend’ or ‘retain’ their league title, their first since 2006, although the club’s honours board which hung behind him has yet to be updated.

Duff said: “Saying ‘defend the title’ feels to me like you are taking a backwards step and just trying to protect something.

“It’s not about defending or retaining the title, it’s about winning the title.

“Retain, defend, they are words I don’t like and we haven’t been using them.”

He did concede that he would be picking the brains of the club’s new CEO Tomás Quinn on the challenge of backing up success, who won seven Leinster football titles with Dublin, though only one All-Ireland.

But he dismissed the notion that Shels were favourites who were being chased down by pack.

He said: “I don’t think we are favourites. I wouldn’t put us as favourites, we weren’t favourites last year, I don’t see us as favourites this year.

“Rovers will always be favourites, Derry have a very experienced Northern Irish international football team, St Pat’s are near-on favourites as they won nine games in a row.

“We are all on zero points. Defend, retain, chasing…. we all start off on a level par, for me it’s forgotten about.

“It should give the guys confidence but as for chasing, it doesn’t make sense as we are all on zero points.”

But the terms being used by journalists was not the thing causing him most annoyance at an event to launch the club’s away jersey, sponsored by Chadwicks.

There were tradesmen busy at work in Tolka Park’s main stand making improvements for the new season.

Underneath, Duff looked like a simmering pot waiting to boil over as the door into the bar swung open and closed repeatedly with an annoying screech each time.

Asked about it, he said: “Yeah, I’m on edge a bit. It’s nothing you have done.

“I guess it’s hunger, enthusiasm and drive. Sometimes that can come across as being a bit cranky.”

It is nothing new that managers here have to do jobs that their counterparts in more prestigious leagues would not have to contemplate.

For their previous league success, Pat Fenlon found himself marking the pitch because the club was in such dire straits that there was nobody else to do it.

Thankfully, there are no issues with wages these days but it was still quite the sight to see the two-time English Premier League winner returning later on with an oil can.

If that was a running repair, there has been a bit more remodelling of his squad, with two players – Daniel Kelly from Derry City and Ellis Chapman from Sligo Rovers – brought in from other clubs in the League.

Also in are two from outside, Mipo Odubeko from Fleetwood Town and free agent Kerr McInroy, whom Duff knew from his time at Celtic.

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Duff explained: “It would have been poor for myself, the staff and the club if we didn’t add to the squad.

“When you become champions and you win something, it’s very easy to sit back and trust it’s not broken but that’s absolutely the time to strengthen, so we have brought in a freshness.

“It’s never nice to let players go but we have done, and I think we have brought in some serious quality.

“You are always looking at all units of the team, we haven’t strengthened all units, if you look at our squad but we have brought in some serious quality.”

But he admitted that, when it came to recruitment, it was not a buyer’s market.

He said: “When there is scarcity of players, the players in demand can command bigger wages. That’s life. That’s why it’s important and we’ve strived to tie lads down.

“As much as it’s hard work for me, I feel sorry for players in the League of Ireland having one-year deals. I think nearly all our lads are tied down long-term deals. 

“It’s the only way you can build. Outside of that, it’s ‘who’s out there?’ We don’t throw mad money at anybody. We like to spend well and wisely.

“I think we’ve done that, very, very, well. We tapped out on a couple because it didn’t sit right with us. For instance, that’s where you maybe have to look elsewhere and we did, ie. Mipo. 

“Sometimes it’s your circle of friends, I don’t really have a circle of friends, but maybe circle of players you worked with before and Kerr was one I was always fond of.

“To cut your answer short, everyone can see there’s a scarcity.”

Duff was reluctant to be drawn on the challenge posed by Champions League football.

He claimed that he would not let his players look beyond the Presidents Cup final against Drogheda United next Friday to their league opener against Derry City a week later, never mind their European game in the summer.

But he said: “It’s aim for the stars in every competition.”

COLIN HEALY’S acrimonious exit from the FAI came as no surprise to Damien Duff.

Healy voiced his unhappiness with how the Association had dispensed with his services as assistant to the women’s senior team after manager Eileen Gleeson was not kept on.

Duff’s former Ireland team-mate claimed Football Director Marc Canham had indicated he would be kept on, something the Englishman denied.

And David Courell insisted the Cork man had misinterpreted a text message from him which Healy said indicated that it was the chief executive’s belief that it was the former Celtic midfielder’s decision to leave.

Shelbourne boss Duff quit as an assistant coach to the Ireland men’s team four years ago following an investigation into Stephen Kenny’s use of a motivational video prior to a friendly against England.

And he said: “First and foremost I think he’s utter class. I don’t say that about many people. He’s just a class, class guy.

“He’s been let down a few times over his career, back in the day, World Cup and Saipan. It’s all sliding doors moments in football.”

Healy was due to be called into the Ireland squad for the 2002 World Cup only for Roy Keane to change his mind about leaving.

When he did eventually pull out, it was too late for another change to be made.

Duff continued: “I know what’s gone on, I know he’s been let down, I know he’s been treated unfairly.

“I stand with Colin, that’s all I want to say on the matter. Brilliant guy, classy guy, and he’s been let down.

“I wasn’t surprised. Did I pick up the paper and go ‘wow, Jesus, I can’t believe that happened’? No, I didn’t.

“I read the headline and didn’t need to read the rest because I wasn’t surprised.”

Прекрасний привід для ностальгії: Рене Зеллвегер та Х’ю Грант з’явилися разом на червоній доріжці. Як і 20 років тому, їх звела історія про Бріджит Джонс. У 2001 році вийшов знаменитий «Щоденник Бріджит Джонс», а тепер 55-річна Зеллвегер і 64-річний Грант знову зустрілися, щоб просувати фільм «Бріджит Джонс: Закохана у хлопчика» в Парижі. Для виходу актори […]

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