Antonio Conte is set to be boosted by the return of key defender Eric Dier, with Oliver Skipp in race against time to be fit for Saturday’s trip to Manchester City.
Tottenham duo Eric Dier and Oliver Skipp against Jarrod bowen of Westham (Getty Images)
Tottenham’s duo Eric Dier and Oliver Skipp were once again absent through injury as Tottenham lost 2-0 against Wolves on Sunday afternoon making it three consecutive defeats as Champions League dreams under Conte becoming ‘unrealistic‘
Conte admitted in his pre-match press conference ahead of Southampton that he is pushing his medical team to get Skipp back to fitness sooner than expected, before confirming a few days later that he hopes to have Dier available for the Man City game after his recent thigh issue.
Unfortunately, he’s not fit. For sure he’s a big loss for us. He needs a bit more time to recover. I don’t know, I hope he will be available for the next game against Man City.
The Englishman has been an integral presence in Tottenham Hotspur’s backline in the last couple of seasons.
Even though there have been an high level of inconsistencies in his game, Dier has always managed to anchor the backline to the best of his abilities and his absence is proving to be a grave loss to Spurs as the hat-trick defeats difficult to stomach due to Tottenham’s lack of defensive stability.
Conte high reverence for Eric Dier
“Eric Dier can become one of the best players in the world in that position” Conte said ahead of Carabao’s quarter final against Westham.
“For sure he needs to work and continue to improve and understand the movement with the defensive line.
“He has to lead more, because in that position you have to speak a lot because you have to stay in the middle, at the back where you can see everything.
“He has a great space for improvement but we are talking about a really good player, strong physically with a good personality and good technically because he was a midfielder.
“This role is perfect for him. He has to continue this way because he can become one of the best central defenders.”
Also, Oliver Skipp is in race against time to be fit for the Citizens’ as Conte had requested to speed up Skipp’s recovery.
Oliver Skipp battled with Ngolo Kante during the Premier League match between the two sides (Getty Images)
The 20-year-old has become an integral part of Antonio’s Conte. In fact, Tottenham have only won once in the eight Premier League games when the midfielder hasn’t started this season, with the team also not conceding a single goal in five games under Conte when the duo have started in the team alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
The Lilywhites have had to do without Eric Dier and Oliver Skipp through injury since the return of football after last month’s international break and it is incredibly noticeable when they don’t feature and both could be back for another important match on Saturday.
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