ANGE POSTECOGLOU finally has all his big-hitters available this weekend for the first time since taking over.
Now he will be looking to prove the doubters wrong and show Tottenham are genuinely in the title race.
AFPSon Heung-min (left) is set to return against Brighton on Saturday[/caption]
Straight-talking Postecoglou claimed back in mid-January that it was possible his Spurs side could win the league this year.
The 58-year-old said: “Yes, we are (in a title race) and I’ve said all along that until the point where you’re not, why would you discount the possibility?”
At that point they were six points off table-topping Liverpool. A little under a month on, that gap has extended to seven.
Most pundits and fans cannot envisage the North Londoners winning their first-ever Premier League crown come the end of the season.
Indeed, a supercomputer over at number-crunchers Opta calculated on Tuesday that fifth-placed Spurs have less than a 0.1 per cent chance of finishing top of the pile.
But given how dominant his side were from August to October, when they were first after an unbeaten opening ten games, Postecoglou will certainly not be throwing in the towel.
The only key player they were missing during those initial three months was classy midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur who was still recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in February.
Though September’s blow when Ivan Perisic suffered a complex ACL issue of his own was keenly felt too, even if the veteran winger was largely used as an impact sub.
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Then all hell broke loose on November 6 with that unforgettable 4-1 home defeat to rivals Chelsea, when they had two players sent off as well as losing star men Micky van de Ven and James Maddison to serious hamstring injuries.
Further injuries and suspensions followed, while Son Heung-min, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma all headed off on international duty to the Asia Cup and Africa Cup of Nations respectively.
Yet, slowly but surely, Postecoglou has got all his main men back.
And for the first time in his tenure, he should be able to pick his strongest XI at home to Brighton on Saturday.
That is providing ex-Seagulls star Bissouma is fit after a reported bout of malaria while with Mali and that Son is ready after South Korea’s shock exit to Jordan on Tuesday. The 31-year-old is due back in Tottenham training on Thursday.
Should that pair be fit and available, Postecoglou could go with what may well be his preferred team of: Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Van de Ven, Destiny Udogie; Bissouma, Bentancur, Maddison; Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, Son.
The competition for places would be decent too with Timo Werner, Sarr and Brennan Johnson all making strong cases to start as well.
Postecoglou has always been confident of having a stronger second half to the season than the first, believing his team would have wised up to his methods by then.
Should that come to pass, then it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they are in the mix come the end of campaign – no matter what the Opta AI suggests.
They have some serious ground to make up but they have three winnable home games up next (curiously, all at 3pm on a Saturday) in Brighton this week, then Wolves, then Crystal Palace.
Is this Postecoglou’s best side?
RODRIGO BENTANCUR is one of many Spurs stars Ange Postecoglou has been unable to call upon every week this season due to injury.
But the Uruguayan is fully fit now and Postecoglou finally has all his main stars back, giving him the chance to pick his best XI.
SunSport predicts that to be:
Vicario;
Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie;
Bissouma, Bentancur, Maddison;
Kulusevski, Richarlison, Son.
Then follows a tough trip to Aston Villa, currently two points above them in the table, and they would likely have to win that to stay in contention.
The ultra test, though, comes in the back end of April going into early May.
They host Manchester City, then Arsenal and then go to Liverpool.
It is a frightening trio of fixtures but Postecoglou has managed to eradicate the fear from this team during his short time in charge.
And, remember, he has not lost to any of those sides in the league this term, either.
It is a long shot, of course it is.
Then again, Postecoglou is at the peak of his powers now from a selection perspective, which is something we have never seen before.