Judge Spurs at end of the season: Postecoglou

The coach believes his team is making progress despite the recent string of losses

LONDON:

Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham are "making progress" but says any judgements on his work should wait until the end of the season.

The Australian has experienced a rollercoaster start to his second season in north London.

A run of one win from Spurs' opening four games was followed by five consecutive victories, including an impressive 3-0 win at Manchester United.

Postecoglou's men have since scored impressive home wins over West Ham, Manchester City and Aston Villa, but have lost their past three away games.

Spurs sit seventh in the Premier League but are well-placed to progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League and face United in the League Cup quarter-finals next month.

"There's still a hell of a long way to go and, for us, what's important is we keep progressing in the way we have been," Postecoglou said Friday on the eve of Ipswich's visit.

"Our football for the large part has been pretty consistent, pretty good. We've obviously had a few stumbles along the way.

"Within that context I still think we're making progress and that's what we will keep doing. There's no point looking at the table now because ultimately where we are at the end of the season is what counts."

Postecoglou made changes for Thursday's 3-2 Europa League defeat to Galatasaray, with a number of key players out injured.

Micky van de Ven, Richarlison, Timo Werner, Wilson Odobert and Mikey Moore will all be absent this weekend, but there is hope that Cristian Romero could return.

Captain Son Heung-min has been used sparingly in the past two games to nurse him back to full fitness.

"We're managing his minutes, building him up," said Postecoglou.

"Hopefully we get him back and keep him back. We can't afford more injuries in that position."

Richarlison is set for a longer spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury against Villa last weekend, having only recently returned to action.

"We tried to take a different approach. He worked awfully hard on his rehab and not just his rehab, his general fitness," said Postecoglou.

"We eased him back into playing, trying not to overload him but unfortunately he broke down again.

"He's disappointed but ultimately we've just got to keep getting him back in there and working with him to get him back up because he's an important player."