Ange Postecoglou has played down concerns over Heung-min Son's fitness and says the Tottenham captain's determination to play whenever possible is "beyond commendable" and a lesson for others.
Son is currently unable to train fully due to a niggling groin problem but insisted on playing in South Korea's mid-week friendly against Vietnam because he did not want to let down supporters. He completed 90 minutes and scored in a 6-0 win.
The Spurs skipper has been cleared to lead the line on Monday as Postecoglou's unbeaten side aim to return to the top of the table when they host Fulham, and the head coach says Son will continue to "perform at the highest level".
Asked if he might have to occasionally rest Son for his own good, Postecoglou told Standard Sport: "Look, as long as he's still scoring goals, I don't care mate.
"Sonny got to where he is because of the person he is and I'm certainly not going to change any part of that mate.
"He doesn't have to train, he doesn't have to do anything! He's scored six goals [this season] and he scored for Korea at the weekend.
"Sonny is who he is and he's got to where he is because of the person he is and I'm certainly not going to change any part of that mate.
"Sometimes we want to change people but we don't understand that the thing that has brought them to where they are is because of the people they are. So I'm not changing anything in Sonny. If anything you can learn from people like that.
"That's the beauty of me being in the position I am; you come across different people every time you go on this kind of journey and you learn from all of them.
"The way he takes on the responsibility of not just his whole nation, and he takes it very seriously, I think it's commendable. Beyond commendable. It's great.
"We've seen players who go the other way with fame and fortune and kind of lose their way a bit.
"But Sonny's still very, very grounded. He knows what's important to him and that's his country, his football club, his career.
"In terms of physical wellbeing, he's well looked after here. He knows his body well. And he'll continue to perform at the highest level."
Postecoglou has withdrawn Son in each of Spurs' last four matches, even as they were chasing winners against Sheffield United, Arsenal and Liverpool, while the Australian also hooked James Maddison before the end of the north London derby and in the 2-1 win over the nine-man Reds.
The head coach, though, bristled at the suggestion that he was protecting his star players and says he made the changes to win the games.
"I made the substitutions because I wanted to win the games mate," he said, when asked if he felt a responsibility to look after his players. "And that's what we ended up doing.
"I'm not looking after players. I'm trying to win games of football. And if I think making a substitution will help us do that, I don't care who it is, we'll do that.
"And it doesn't matter whether that's Madders or Sonny or anyone else, we're looking to win games. I've said before that's what I love more than anything else, winning games. So whatever decision needs to be made I'm happy to make that decision.
"In the games we've had so far, we've just needed different things and I've tried to get a sense of what they may be. Depending on who we've got available to come on, you make those kind of decisions.
"I haven't been looking after them in any sense. The players know they give a maximum and sometimes that maximum is 70 minutes in a game and that's fine. I'm more than happy with that. We'll bring someone in the last half-hour and go from there."
Postecoglou is set to welcome back Brennan Johnson, who has missed the last two games with a hamstring strain, while Rodrigo Bentancur has returned to full training but will not be included in tonight's squad. Yves Bissouma is suspended and is expected to be replaced in midfield by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
