Il Nuovo Postiglione - Postecoglou hopes for end to 'vicious cycle' of Tottenham injuries

Postecoglou is under severe pressure after a miserable run of seven Premier League games without a win, with six defeats in that dismal spell also triggering fan protests against chairman Daniel Levy.

Ahead of Sunday's game at Brentford, Postecoglou's side are languishing in 15th place, just eight points above the relegation zone.

The Australian earned a little breathing space on Thursday when a 3-0 win against Elfsborg booked Tottenham's place in the Europa League last 16.

But Postecoglou is battling a lengthy injury list that threatens to stop the north Londoners ending their malaise.

Postecoglou was already without Dominic Solanke, Cristian Romero, Guglielmo Vicario, Brennan Johnson, Destiny Udogie, Wilson Odobert, Timo Werner and James Maddison.

Romania defender Radu Dragusin became the latest to be bitten by the injury bug when he was forced off against Elfsborg, although centre-back Micky van de Ven played 45 minutes on his return from a hamstring problem.

"We've had to deal with a real extreme situation, which unfortunately once we got hit, it is then very hard to rectify on the run," Postecoglou told reporters on Friday.

"We obviously got some significant injuries early on, which hampered our progress, and then we had to rely on a small group of players to get us through and that then burdened them.

"It has been this vicious cycle. The volume of games that clubs are playing, we've been in an extreme situation but a lot of clubs are facing similarities in Europe."

It is a vital week for Tottenham, who travel to Liverpool holding a 1-0 lead in the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals on Thursday before heading to Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round on February 9.

Injuries forced Postecoglou to turn to youth academy graduates Dane Scarlett, Mikey Moore and Damola Ajayi, who all scored their first goals for the club against Elfsborg.

Now the former Celtic boss is desperate to avoid any further fitness setbacks as he bids to end a Tottenham trophy drought stretching back to 2008.

"Every time I've seen the light at the end of the tunnel, it's usually been an oncoming train," he said.

"We seem to be losing players as we get them back. We don't want to lose anyone else, but again, best laid plans.

"You can't plan for these things. We've got a big week coming up, starting Sunday.

"We're going to have to do it with this core group of players, so we've just got to be careful about how we go about it."

M.Dodaro--INP