Slowly but surely, Tottenham Hotspur are getting healthy again. Wednesday’s Champions League draw with PSV was the first start for Christian Eriksen after he missed a few weeks with an abdominal injury, and now Dele Alli is finally returning to the fold. Tottenham announced via Twitter that Dele has returned to training and is available to play in Monday’s huge Premier League match against Manchester City.
TEAM NEWS: @dele_official (hamstring) has returned to training and is available for selection. pic.twitter.com/Fu8q5b7jI4
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 26, 2018
That is fantastic news, as before his hamstring injury Dele was one of Spurs’ best and most consistent performers in the early part of the season. He hasn’t been seen since his “homecoming” in Spurs’ League Cup win over Watford in Milton Keynes, and Tottenham have missed him a great deal.
Still, I wouldn’t expect to see him in the starting lineup at the Etihad Wembley. Mauricio Pochettino usually doesn’t rush his players back into the starting lineup. Eriksen got a two minute cameo against West Ham before starting the PSV match, and I think it’s much more likely that we see Dele as a late impact substitute instead of a starter.
Spurs’ offense has been without the creative spark provided by Dele and Eriksen for a few weeks now and it’s been obvious that they haven’t played as well without them. As Spurs head into what looks like a challenging run of fixtures in November, it will be very nice to have both of them back in the fold and healthy, even if it takes a while for Dele to get back up to speed.