Ange Postecoglou has six Tottenham players who need more minutes ahead of defining month

Tottenham have eight fixtures remaining in the 2024/25 campaign. The hope will be that there is a further game for Ange Postecoglou's side as they contest for a place in the Europa League final.

Before Spurs return to European action with a semi-final double-header against Bodo/Glimt of Norway on the calendar, the north London club have Nottingham Forest and Liverpool to come in the Premier League. Not only are the upcoming fixtures key for Tottenham in terms of the Premier League and Europa League, they are also going to be pivotal in regards to upping the minutes of some players ahead of a defining month.

Postecoglou has had to deal with injury issues aplenty over the course of the term and a few of his squad have only just returned from time in the treatment room. So which players does Postecoglou need to give an increase in playing time to over the next few weeks? football.london takes a look below.

Kevin Danso

Kevin Danso made his return from a hamstring injury in Tottenham's 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday evening. The Austrian international may have only come on in the 85th minute but he more than played his part in helping Tottenham remain defensively strong late on to ensure they got the job done in Germany.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Saturday morning, Postecoglou stated that Danso had in fact come back slightly early as he "wasn't due back for another week or so". The boss also outlined that it's important his defender gets game time in the next couple of fixtures as he thinks he will be "important" for the team.

So, Danso could well come into the starting XI on Monday when Nottingham Forest visit N17.

Richarlison

Richarlison is someone else who will be pushing for a start against Nottingham Forest. The Brazilian has made two substitute appearances since his return and he has remained unused on the bench on two occasions.

His versatility does give Postecoglou options, with the 27-year-old a contender to either start as a striker or on the left-wing. He can still have a big say in what remains of the season but he needs to get up to match sharpness after so little football in recent months.

Mathys Tel

Whereas Danso and Richarlison need the minutes, Mathys Tel is match fit after featuring fairly regularly since his loan move from Bayern Munich. The Frenchman has started the past two games for Tottenham and he delivered a very good showing on the left-wing in the win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

With Tottenham facing a decision in the summer whether to buy the 19-year-old or not due to a £45.8million purchase option in their agreement with Bayern Munich, a few more starts for the exciting talent could possibly persuade the club to part with the aforementioned fee. There is still a lot more to come from Tel and Spurs may see even more from him if he continues to feature regularly between now and the end of May.

Wilson Odobert

Postecoglou has been managing Wilson Odobert's minutes recently, with the French winger not part of the squad for last weekend's defeat at Wolves. The 20-year-old returned to the matchday party for the game in Frankfurt but he remained an unused substitute across the 90 minutes.

Odobert has not featured in Tottenham's last three games, with his last outing for the side coming in the 3-1 win over Southampton a fortnight ago. He will hopefully feature prominently in Monday's game against Nottingham Forest.

Dejan Kulusevski

Dejan Kulusevski appears in line to start Tottenham's home encounter against Nottingham Forest amid question marks over James Maddison's fitness. The attacking midfielder took a huge hit when winning Spurs a penalty away at Eintracht Frankfurt and it resulted in him making way minutes later.

Kulusevski got a good 45 minutes to his name in what was only his second appearance since returning from a foot injury. Now it's vital that the Swede continues to see an increase in match action as he is going to be absolutely vital when it comes to Tottenham trying to win the Europa League.

Micky van de Ven

It has been very stop-start for Micky van de Ven since making his comeback from injury. Postecoglou does tend to start the Dutchman and drop him back down to the bench the following match to ensure he is not pushed too much.

It is going to be interesting to see Postecoglou's approach over the coming days as he may continue alternating Van de Ven in games or potentially play him in successive games for the first time since March. Back-to-back starts would do the youngster the world of good but it will all come down to whether Postecoglou wants to take that chance going on Van de Ven's injury woes this term.

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