Ange Postecoglou admits 'big loss' in January but hints at a plan to cope with blow

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou says they will miss the trio of Son Heung-min, Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr when they leave for the Asian Cup and AFCON early next month. Captain Son will be representing South Korea in the tournament that is scheduled to start from January 12 to February 10 in Qatar. 

Bissouma and Sarr will be playing for Mali and Senegal respectively during the AFCON which starts on January 13 to February 11 in Cote D'voire. Tottenham have as many as eight players currently out through injury and Postecoglou admitted losing the trio will be a blow even though that is their reality at the moment. 

He told reporters ahead of the game against Nottingham Forest tonight: "All of those three players will be a big loss to us but that’s kind of been the story of our season - we’ve had to cope without significant players so far and as I said that’s kind of what we’ve been dealt and we have to deal with it as we have."

When asked when he expected them to leave for those tournaments, the Spurs boss revealed he didn't know and wasn't bothered as he had more pressing issues to deal with. 

He added: "No, we're still working through that. I'm still focusing on what's ahead between now and then and we'll go through all of those permutations over the next few weeks."

Tottenham take on Forest this evening at the City Ground with Postecoglou's record of nine wins, three draws and four defeats with 33 goals scored and 23 goals conceded in 16 Premier League games the same as Antonio Conte's at this stage last season.