Tottenham Handed Double Injury Boost Ahead Of Arsenal Clash

Tottenham coach Tim Sherwood has been boosted by the return of Danny Rose and Christian Eriksen ahead of their upcoming games against Benfica and Arsenal.

Spurs welcome Portuguese giants Benfica to White Hart Lane on Thursday night in the last 16 of the Europa League before entertaining north London rivals Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

Sherwood has been speaking to the media on Wednesday afternoon and gave TottenhamHotspur.com the latest team and injury news, and it looks like they’ll have two first team players back in the squad for these two key games.

Defender Rose has been on the sidelines since picking up a knee injury against Norwich last month and Sherwood has confirmed the left-back has now returned to full training. A late decision will be made over his involvement tomorrow night but he’s expected to be back in the frame for a starting spot against the Gunners on Sunday.

Eriksen also returned to training on Tuesday afternoon after missing the last two games through injury and while Thursday’s clash with Benfica may come too soon for him to start, he should be fit and available to take on Arsenal at the weekend.

Sherwood also gave a positive update on the fitness of Michael Dawson after the centre-back was forced off against Chelsea with a hamstring strain. It was initially feared he could be set for an extended spell on the sidelines, but it looks like he could be back within ‘a couple of weeks’.

Midfielder Mousa Dembele missed the 4-0 defeat to Chelsea last Sunday with a hamstring problem and will face a late fitness test before his possible involvement tomorrow is determined.

Sherwood told the clubs website:

“Danny has trained for two or three days now. We’ve got him back quickly after he went off against Norwich and he’s not lost that much training.”

“It’s good to have Christian back, we’ve all seen how he can affect football matches, so we hope he can do the same again, if selected,”

“We’re confident he’ll [Dawson] be back in the fold in a couple of weeks,”

“There is improvement in Mousa but we’ll leave that decision until we know more tomorrow. He’ll certainly be a doubt,”

It will come as a welcome boost for Sherwood to have Rose and Eriksen back for these important two games, particularly following the disappointment at Stamford Bridge.

For all their troubles this season, Spurs have the opportunity to put one foot in the quarter finals of the Europa League tomorrow, while a win on Sunday would see them move to within just 3 points of Arsenal – although their rivals would have a game in hand – so things could look a lot rosier for the white half of north London come Monday morning.

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