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Football London
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Rob Guest

Dejan Kulusevski and Yves Bissouma hand Tottenham huge boost ahead of Arsenal north London derby

Tottenham have been handed a huge injury boost ahead of Sunday's north London derby against Arsenal with Dejan Kulusevski and Yves Bissouma spotted on the training pitch at Hotspur Way. The Sweden international has not played for Spurs since the Boxing Day draw at Brentford due to a small muscle injury, with the latter pulling out of Saturday's FA Cup win over Portsmouth ten minutes before kick-off because of a minor knock sustained in the warm-up.

Ideally needing all of his squad available to face the table toppers, footage from Sky Sports has shown Bissouma training with the rest of the squad again after missing out at the weekend. Kulusevski, on the other hand, could be seen working away from the group with two Tottenham coaches as he went through some running exercises.

However, there appeared to be no sign of either Rodrigo Bentancur or Richarlison as they step up their fitness after their injuries at the World Cup. Tottenham assistant head coach Cristian Stellini was asked about Bissouma's fitness after the FA Cup win over Portsmouth and he outlined why the midfielder had to withdraw from the squad late on.

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"It's an injury that came from the last match," he admitted. "Bissouma has an ankle problem. He tried to push himself and we worked to have Bissouma on the pitch, but he was mature to say the truth and he was not 100%.

"It's very good when the player speaks and tells us they are not 100% and it's better to use a player that is available 100% as Skippy was and he played a good match. We are happy that Bissouma spoke the truth and we could make the right choice."

When pushed on if Bissouma would be fit for the north London derby, he added: "Yeah, absolutely."

football.london reported on Sunday that Kulusevski is currently the best-placed of the injured players to return for the derby, while Bentancur is also expected to be ready to return for the first time since the World Cup.

Richarlison is slightly behind them in the race to be fit and if he does manage to be involved in same capacity, it would be ahead of schedule following the hamstring injury he picked up at the World Cup.

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