Jan Vertonghen has given Tottenham fans a massive injury boost by hinting that both Harry Kane and Dele Alli will be back for the second leg of Spurs’ Champions League last 16 clash with Borussia Dortmund.
The England international duo have both been out since January with ankle ligament damage and a hamstring issue respectively, but Vertonghen gave an optimistic update on their recovery ahead of his side’s first leg encounter with the Bundesliga leaders on Wednesday night.
As quoted in the Mirror, he said: “We feel so good as a team, so strong. We know a couple of the guys will come back after the first leg as well.
“It’s a tough fixture for us but we’ve shown last year we can beat everyone.”
The Mirror report says, “Jan Vertonghen is ready to ease Tottenham’s growing injury worries – but insisted Harry Kane and Dele Alli will be back for the second leg.”
OPINION
Having Kane and Alli back could mae the difference in this tie. At the moment, nobody would have Spurs down as favourites against a rampant Borussia Dortmund side, but if Mauricio Pochettino’s team can bolster their ranks with the addition of their two dearly missed attackers then they could, on their day, sneak a result. A lot will rest on how well they can shut out Dortmund at Wembley. Nobody will expect Spurs to shut up shop, but they will be treading a fine line between going for the win and not leaving themselves wide open at the back. If they can stay on terms with the Bundesliga leaders they will fancy their chances in the away leg, even if Dortmund is one of the most notoriously intense atmospheres in Europe. Spurs are a good team though, sometimes a lot better than they get credit for being, and if they can reintroduce their two star men in time for the reverse fixture, they could pull off an upset here.