With Injuries Mounting For Tottenham, Kaboul Offers Tips To Beat City

Tottenham Hotspur’s win over Southampton on Sunday was tarnished by what looked like a serious injury to right back Kyle Naughton. The 25 year old could not continue after coming out worse from a tackle by on loan Chelsea left back Ryan Bertrand. He later hobbled off the field and was replaced by Eric Dier after just 32 minutes at White Hart lane.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side would face an anxious wait as the result of the scan is being awaited to ascertain the extent of the damage to his ankle. Kyle Naughton previously faced sometime on the sidelines with an injury to his ankle in 2012, and they would be concerns about the long term prognosis.

These concerns are exacerbated by the fact that first choice right back Kyle Walker is currently out with an abdominal injury and his not likely to return anytime soon.

Tottenham’s form have gradually picked up in the last two Premier League matches, after they recorded their first win in the league against the Saints since the 4-0 victory over Queen Park Rangers in August.

The defensive improvement shown in the matches against Arsenal and Southampton should be the benchmark upon which their displays should be based according to the captain Younes Kaboul. He spoke while looking ahead of Tottenham’s next Premier League match against Manchester City after the international break. The Lilywhites were on the receiving end of two heavy defeats to the Champions last season, but the French player who took the reins of the captaincy this season from the now departed Michael Dawson sees the recent defensive display as a reason why the club can do well in that tie.

“We need to be mentally and physically prepared,” Kaboul said.

.“We need to produce a similar performance to the one against Arsenal. I know each game is different but we need to learn from the Arsenal game because we are going to play a massive team again

“We need to play a similar game to the one against Arsenal but be even better. City are more of an attacking threat than Arsenal. They are the champions of England, they are ready for the fight and we need to produce a big performance there.

“What happened last season was last season. In football, the most important thing is the present and we look forward to this game. You never know what will happen but we have to be ready for this game.”

While, they would predictably be up beat ahead of the match it remains to be seen how they approach the coming weeks, and Kyle Naughton’s diagnosis would determine how Tottenham performs defensively at the Etihad next weekend.