Van de Ven made his long-awaited return to action last Thursday, playing 45 minutes in Tottenham’s Europa League clash against Elfsborg. It was his first appearance since suffering a hamstring injury against Chelsea on December 8, a setback that sidelined him for seven weeks.

Current captain Son Heung-min featured in that Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City and is the longest serving player after Ben Davies, who joined in 2014. Postecoglou can sense in the duo a desire to end the club’s well-documented 17-year trophy drought.