Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven gave fans a dose of positive news on Friday night. The Spurs star was cheering on fellow Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld in his match at the World Darts Championship, before which he revealed that a return to competitive action should come sooner than expected.
Van de Ven has been a huge miss for Tottenham since suffering a hamstring issue in early November. The 22-year-old quickly established himself as a vital member of Ange Postecoglou’s starting XI following his summer move from Wolfsburg.
The Spurs boss left supporters feeling deflated earlier this week by claiming that Van de Ven, and his equally important team-mate James Maddison, were both ‘nowhere near’ a return to first-team training.
But Van de Ven painted a different picture during an appearance at Alexandra Palace on Friday, saying: “It’s going well – only two more weeks [before I’m back in training].”
The Dutchman’s darting jolly included winning a nine-dart challenge against iconic referee Russ Bray. And Van Barneveld repaid his support with a convincing 3-1 victory over Radek Szaganski in the evening.
In Van de Ven’s absence, Postecoglou has called on the input of Ben Davies at centre-back over the past few weeks. The Tottenham boss could have his first-choice backline at his disposal by the time his side travel to Old Trafford for a date with Manchester United on January 14.
“It’s not about trying to not give out information, these things kind of either accelerate or get delayed when you get into the final phase. Until I see them out with us, it’s hard for me to say.”
Spurs went five matches without a win in the immediate aftermath of Van de Ven’s injury. But Postecoglou has since steadied the ship, with the north Londoners going into Saturday’s clash against Everton off the back of successive wins over Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest.
