With Spurs hovering just four points above the relegation zone, potential returns of Pedro Porro and Kevin Danso could reshape the lineup at Craven Cottage
Tottenham’s season has reached a point where squad availability may matter as much as tactics. Sitting only four points clear of the Premier League relegation zone, Spurs cannot afford further slipups, particularly after a bruising 1-4 defeat to Arsenal in Igor Tudor’s first match in charge.
The immediate focus now shifts to Fulham away, where even small improvements in personnel could carry significant weight.
The Croatian coach stepped into a situation already strained by months of injuries. His predecessor, Thomas Frank, had spent much of the 2025/26 campaign juggling a treatment room that at times contained enough sidelined players to assemble an entire starting XI.
“This is a very rare situation that you find, 10 players [out], big injuries also,” Tudor said before the derby. “So we made training with 13 players, it is how it is. It’s not fantastic [or] beautiful, but it’s in this case an even bigger challenge to succeed, to come out from this situation.
“When you start pre-season and then you have 50 days in pre-season and you have 20 players, of course then we see the style. This is an emergency, an emergency situation, when you need to find fast what suits the 10 plus three players and it’s totally different.”
Suggested Articles
Defender returns could offer some relief
Pedro Porro is nearing a return after being absent since the end of January, while Kevin Danso is also in line to re-enter the fold.
The former suffered a hamstring injury during the 2-2 draw against Burnley at Turf Moor, halting a campaign in which he had featured in every Premier League fixture and started all Champions League matches.
The Austrian defender has been missing since that same Burnley draw due to a toe injury. His absence became more pronounced when Cristian Romero was suspended following a red card against Manchester United.
When asked about potential returns ahead of the Fulham clash, Tudor offered a measured update.
“Yeah, probably two of them. We hope. We’re going to see now what is best for the team,” he said referring to Porro and Danso.
Meanwhile, several players are to miss out on the Fulham clash with Destiny Udogie, Lucas Bergvall, Ben Davies, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, Wilson Odobert, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison all sidelined through their respective injuries.
