Antonio Conte has confirmed that Dejan Kulusevski is going to be ready to play in Sunday's North London Derby clash against Arsenal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A huge game for both clubs, Spurs need maximum points in their top-four quest and the Gunners will be targeting another win to boost their Premier League title charge.
Tottenham have been hit by a number of injuries to key players recently, with Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur and Richarlison all spending time on the sidelines. Kulusevski, who was back working on the grass at Hotspur Way early this week, has not featured since Boxing Day due to a small muscle problem, while Bentancur (adductor muscle) and Richarlison (hamstring) have been on the sidelines since the World Cup.
Last weekend saw Yves Bissouma drop out of the Tottenham XI to face Portsmouth ten minutes before kick-off after he sustained a small knock in the warm-up. However, he was spotted back in training with the rest of his teammates at Hotspur Way at the beginning of the week.
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Ahead of Sunday's North London Derby in N17, Conte has issued positive news on Kulusevski and gave a glimmer of hope regarding Bentancur and Richarlison.
The news is for sure the situation is going to improve, especially for Deki, for Kulusevski," admitted the Italian. "He had a training session in the last few days with us. I think he is going to be ready to play. About Richy and Rodrigo (Bentancur), also both situations are improving.
"I think in this moment Deki is much more ready to play and especially don't take risk because for us it is very important to have patience, especially because these are important players for a long period. Now to accelerate the process to risk to recovery and to lose them for a long period again, is not good, is not positive. For this reason we'll see. We have another training session tomorrow to monitor the situation well about Rodrigo and Richy."
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