Thomas Frank enjoyed an encouraging start to life in charge of Tottenham with a win over Reading in a friendly on Saturday, but three players missed out.
New arrival Luka Vuskovic and Will Lankshear scored the goals in a 2-0 win for Spurs, while summer signing Mohammed Kudus played the second half.
Frank saw a lot of his new players in action, but returning Manor Solomon, new signing Kota Takai and Richarlison all missed out on the trip to the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
Explaining their absences, Frank said: ‘Manor has a minor calf injury, unfortunately, nothing big.
‘Kota has a minor issue, and we expect him to train next week.
‘Richy has trained well, we’re just building him, that’s the big thing, He trained earlier today, and we expect a full training week next week and, right now, we expect him to play next week.’
Richarlison has been linked with a departure from Tottenham this summer, but Frank suggests the Brazilian will play against Luton next Saturday.
The new Spurs boss sounded pleased with his team’s performance after an intense first week of training after his move from Brentford.
‘Lots of boxes ticked, and if we look in a bigger perspective, it’s been a good week, very tough and intense for the lads,’ he said.
‘So, a couple of good things, we’ve got through the week, touch wood, no injuries, everyone in a better, physical place, all the players got a good 45 minutes here, plus a good run after – the fitness box ticked.
‘It’s always important to keep a clean sheet, that’s very important if you want to win football matches, so good aspects in that. I think it’s good we scored two goals from set pieces, something we’ve been working hard on.
‘There were elements in the game I’m happy with, elements of the high pressure, elements of the counter-press, so when we’ve lost it, we can bank teams in, elements of having enough players in the box… there are also bits we’d like to do better, but that’s normal.’
The Dane is taking over the Europa League champions as they prepare to return to the Champions League, but how far can they go this season?
Frank said via the Guardian: ‘What are the odds for us winning the Premier League this season? I think we’re probably not the favourites. There are probably three teams at least ahead of us but we will do what we can to build a strong and competitive team.
‘The first aim is that we need to be able to compete in all four tournaments and do it on a consistent level. I think 2019 was the last season where the club managed to compete in more than one competition.
‘If we can compete, there’s maybe a chance that you can hopefully end top. But we need to be able to build to compete first.’
