Tottenham give James Maddison injury update ahead of Manchester United fixture

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has all but ruled James Maddison out of next weekend's Premier League tussle with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The England international, who joined Spurs from Leicester City last summer, has been sidelined since early-November with ankle ligament damage. He was forced off in the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea on November 6.

His early withdrawal against the Blues put the brakes on what had been an impressive start to life at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for Maddison. He had scored three goals and grabbed six assists in his first 11 league appearances this term.

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His creativity and ability to score goals from midfield has been sorely missed, though Spurs are still within touching distance of the top four - currently sitting just one place and one point behind Arsenal, who occupy fourth. Though he is making progress in his recovery, Postecoglou is not expecting Maddison back just yet, all but confirming that the trip to Old Trafford will come too soon.

Speaking ahead of his side's 1-0 win over Burnley in the FA Cup third round on Friday night, Postecoglou said: "[Maddison] is not training with us yet. As I’ve said before, until they train with us it's hard for me to put a timeline on it.

"He's running with a sports science crew but not with us. He's not likely to be with us for the next couple of weeks."

On the plus side, Spurs did welcome fellow summer signing Micky van de Ven back into the matchday squad against Burnley. He was strong enough to be named on the bench after two months out with a hamstring injury.

Like Maddison,