Tottenham Hotspur receive James Maddison boost ahead of Bournemouth clash

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou expects James Maddison to be available for Saturday's Premier League lunchtime kickoff with Bournemouth.

Fears were raised of a potential injury for the former Leicester City man when he was seen leaving the stadium on crutches after last weekend's 2-0 win over Manchester United.

As Maddison passed through the mixed zone, he told reporters that the measure was only a precautionary one, although he is believed to have been sent for scans this week.

However, speaking to the media in his pre-game press conference, Postecoglou revealed that Maddison had trained as normal and is in contention for the trip to the Vitality Stadium.

"He trained today unrestricted. We'll see how he holds up but at the moment he will be available," Postecoglou responded when asked about Maddison's fitness.

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"I think it was the incident when [Cristian] Romero got brought down, he had a shot and it was a block tackle. His ankle was a bit sore after that but the medical team looked after him.

"There was no real push to have him available. It was down to him. People would have seen him in a moon boot but it was more precautionary. He has felt good and probably could have trained yesterday."

Maddison has made an immediate impression since touching down in North London, registering two assists on his debut against Brentford before another strong showing against the Red Devils.

Pape Sarr's strike and Lisandro Martinez's own goal put Erik ten Hag's team to the sword, although the Lilywhites were agonisingly close to taking the lead in the first half as Pedro Porro rattled the crossbar.

The former Sporting Lisbon man came in for Emerson Royal last weekend, despite the Brazilian's goal against Brentford, as the duo adapt to Postecoglou's four-man defence following their stints as wing-backs under Antonio Conte.

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Porro and Emerson seem set to engage in an intriguing head-to-head for starts at right-back, but Postecoglou is "reticent" to draw conclusions from his side's opening two games and has stressed the need to let the young duo develop.

"I would be reticent to read into anything after two or three games. He performed well last week, performed well in pre-season and as a full-back he has some good attributes to the way we want to play," the Australian added.

"He is good with and without the ball, but again he is 23 and we have a pretty young back four at the moment. Emerson is in a similar boat and they will develop as they go along."

With Maddison expected to be available, Spurs are set to face Bournemouth with four confirmed injury-related absentees in Bryan Gil (groin), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee) and Alfie Whiteman (ankle).

The likes of Hugo Lloris, Djed Spence, Tanguy Ndombele and Eric Dier could also miss out on places in the squad amid speculation surrounding their futures.