Il Nuovo Postiglione - Postecoglou wants Spurs to 'kick on' after turning corner

Victories over Brentford and Manchester United have lifted Postecoglou's men to 12th in the table and eased any fears of being drawn into a relegation battle.

Prior to that, Spurs had won just once in 11 league games to tumble down the table as injuries piled up.

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and match-winner James Maddison returned to the starting line-up against United last weekend, while Brennan Johnson, Wilson Odobert and Destiny Udogie made the bench.

Centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero could return in time to face AZ Alkmaar in the last 16 of the Europa League next month.

Before then Postecoglou is keen to make more inroads into improving Spurs' league position in games against Ipswich on Saturday before Manchester City visit north London on Wednesday.

"We know it's not going to be an easy one (against Ipswich), but it is an opportunity for us now to get another strong performance, get another positive result and, hopefully provide a bit of a foundation for us to kick on," said Postecoglou.

The former Australia boss hinted that the likes of Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski could be rested for the trip to Portman Road after being loaded with a heavy burden during Tottenham's injury crisis in recent months.

"Once Europe kicks in, we know we've got to play midweek and weekend again, so we want to make sure we've got enough in the tank and we don't want to lose any players during this period either," added Postecoglou.

"Pedro, Kulusevski, these kind of guys, we've got an opportunity with the players we've got back to still maintain good levels of performance, but also give them a little bit of a rest."

D.Campanella--INP