Otterham end their losing streak with a victory over Burnley, but their injury problems persist.

Tottenham Hotspur won against Burnley earlier today. Despite the game’s highs and lows, the three points are what ultimately matter. This is the North Londoners’ first set of three points after four consecutive losses.

Spurs have had significant injury issues near the end of the season, the most serious of which is Destiny Udogie’s injury. This season, the Italian cemented himself as Ange Postecoglou’s first-choice left back, and he has delivered outstanding performances.

His knowledge of the game, combined with his under and over-lap runs, guarantees the Lilywhites have tactical elegance on the left side.

Spurs will be without a left-back at the end of the season due to his injury and Ben Davies’ soul-crushing performance against Arsenal.

Van de Ven thrives despite left-back snub, as Postecoglou provides his take.

The Lilywhites started with academy graduate Oliver Skipp at left back against Burnley. Spurs had the option of using summer signing Micky van de Ven as a left-back and bringing Radu Dragusin into the centre of the defence, but Ange decided against it.

In his post-game press conference, the Australian manager was questioned about why he did not play the Dutch defender in the left back position. The former Celtic coach acknowledged the 22-year-old’s injury record and his perception of the risks involved in playing as a full back rather than a central defender.

Following Tottenham’s 2-1 victory over Burnley, Ange Postecoglou commented (via Football.London):

“Yeah, but I’ve been careful with Micky that he’s had a couple of injuries, and the demands of playing left-back are very different from playing centre-back. I just have to be cautious; what is more essential is what we are attempting to develop here, and I was hesitant to put him out there for that reason alone. It’s been a hectic season, and playing full-back against centre-back is vastly different in terms of physicality.

But certainly, I felt that made sense for the closing bit of the game; Skippy was never going to be able to play for more than approximately 60 minutes, and he hadn’t played in a while. And Radu came on, which I felt was extremely brilliant, so that helped us go over the line, and Micky’s goal was fantastic.”