Tottenham's Romero out of Rangers clash, apologised over club criticism

LONDON : Tottenham Hotspur will be without both their first-choice central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven for Thursday's Europa League trip to Rangers, manager Ange Postecoglou has confirmed.

Both returned after injury lay-offs in the 4-3 home defeat by Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday, but neither finished the match. Romero hobbled off early on with a muscle injury while Van de Ven was substituted late on.

"Romero and Van de Ven, we're still getting clarity over the injuries but we're going to be without them again," Postecoglou told reporters on Wednesday.

"At the moment we're still trying to get timelines on those guys so I wouldn't put a time on it yet."

Postecoglou's progress at Tottenham is the subject of intense debate with the club in 11th place in the Premier League after 15 games. They have won only one of their last seven games in all competitions and Romero publicly criticised the club's hierarchy and transfer policy after the loss to Chelsea.

Asked about Romero's comments on Wednesday, Postecoglou said he had spoken to the Argentine World Cup winner about them.

"He realises that a lot of what he said was good but some wasn't the right way of dealing with it. The same way I wouldn't criticise a player publicly," Postecoglou said.

"I've spoken to Cristian about it and he's apologised for it. It wasn't the right way to do it. It shows he cares. There's a way to do it and this wasn't it."

A win at Rangers would smooth the waters a little ahead of a crucial run of fixtures. The Scottish club are one place ahead of ninth-placed Tottenham in the Europa League table with only the top eight automatically reaching the knockout phase.

A trip to Ibrox to play Rangers holds special meaning for Postecoglou