Ange Postecoglou gives James Maddison injury update before Bournemouth trip

Maddison impressed vs Man Utd before leaving stadium in protective boot

Fears England international could miss Saturday’s visit to Bournemouth

Manager Postecoglou says midfielder has “trained unrestricted” before weekend

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has revealed James Maddison has trained with the squad after suffering an ankle injury in the victory over Manchester United last weekend.

The former Leicester playmaker has settled in quickly at Spurs, bagging two assists on his debut at Brentford before impressing in the second half of the 2-0 United win. He was pictured in a protective boot when leaving the stadium and told reporters it was a “precaution”.

There were fears Maddison could miss Saturday’s early kick-off with Bournemouth due to the knock, though Postecoglou said in his press conference the England international trained on Friday and could feature.

The Australian told reporters: “Madders trained today [Friday] unrestricted. We’ll see how he holds up but at the moment he will be available.

“I think it was the incident when Romero got brought down, he had a shot and it was a block tackle. His ankle was a bit sore after that but medical team looked after him. There was no real push to have him available. It was down to him. People would have seen him in a moon boot but it was more precautionary. He has felt good and probably could have trained yesterday.”

Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma are expected to continue as Tottenham’s two deeper central midfielders after bossing proceedings in the victory over United, but Maddison’s potential absence would open up a starting XI spot

Giovani Lo Celso is the most obvious replacement based on position but the Argentina international hasn’t played in either of Spurs’ two Premier League games so far. Ben Davies, Manor Solomon, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Ivan Perisic and Emerson Royal came off the bench against United instead.

Few other changes are expected from that starting XI, with Rodrigo Bentancur and Ryan Sessegnon among those sidelined by injury while former first choice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris tries to seal an exit in the transfer market.