Ange Postecoglou has given his strongest hint yet that Tottenham will look to strengthen their squad in the January transfer window.

Spurs have suffered injury problems in recent weeks with Micky van de Ven, Christian Romero and Richarlison all missing.

Postecoglou’s superior attacking tactics have fallen short in his absence and Spurs head into Christmas in 11th place in the Premier League after Sunday’s 6-3 home defeat to Liverpool.

Asked if he was keen to do any business when the window reopened next week, the Australian said: “As I said a while ago, we are planning. There will be a lot of that where we are at the moment. It is fair to say that we are still a little short in some areas and we need to strengthen.

“But January is more difficult in terms of what kind of players you bring in. For us, ideally — for any club, I guess — you want to bring in people who will make you stronger.

“I think the fact that, obviously, we’re still in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, still got Europe, the FA Cup, we’re in all the competitions, it’s not like our schedule is going to get any easier at any stage. So I think it makes sense. We will try and strengthen where and what number we will have to wait and see.”

Team news from Ange ahead of our Boxing Day trip to Nottingham Forest 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/Uiqnntmihk

– Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 24, 2024

Back to Bentancur

Tottenham travel to Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day, boosted by the return of midfielder Rodrigo Bentanker from suspension.

The Uruguay international has missed the last seven domestic games for comments he made about teammate Son Heung-min but will be involved at the City Ground.

Left-back Destiny Udogi is also available after injury.

Postecoglou added: “From the game, there are no problems as far as I know. Destiny was on the bench but not 100% quite right and should be right. Bentanker is available after his suspension. That’s kind of it for now. “

Forrest return for Johnson

Brennan Johnson returns to his former club on Thursday thanks to Dejan Kulusevski’s form, but Postecoglou is confident the Wales international will get his chance soon.

“Brennan just needs to keep doing what he’s doing,” he said. “I’ve got Deki there and he’s done really well and scored goals. It’s about the balance of the team. It’s about managing that load. We are already overburdening some of the players there. Brennan will get his minutes.