Cristian Romero 'doubt' adds to Tottenham's defensive woes

Micky van der Ven has missed their last four matches in all competitions with a hamstring injury and the possibility that Romero could miss Spurs' clash against City could mean that Ben Davies has to start at centre-back.

After Romero had a baby girl, Tottenham boss Postecoglou told reporters at a pre-match press conference: "I'm really happy for Christian and his wife on the birth of their baby girl. He's still not 100%, he's a doubt for the weekend.

"Everyone else through internationals has got through it well. "Micky is still a good couple of weeks away. He is out on the grass and he's training but he's still a couple of weeks away. We're hoping by the middle of December, he's back and involved and playing."

Rodrigo Bentacur was given a seven-match ban following a racial slur made about Spurs team-mate Son Heung-min earlier this season.

On the Tottenham's decision to appeal the severity of the ban, Postecoglou addded: "It's obviously disappointing because he's been great for us this year.

"He's been one of the ones who certainly his football has gone up another level, but we understood that this was kind of coming and I support the club's decision to appeal the severity of the ban.

"Ultimately, we know it is going to be for X number of games. We will work with Rodrigo through that and make sure in that time, he has all of our support in the right way so that when's he available again, he's ready."

When asked if he'd spoken to Tottenham midfielder Bentancur since the news came out, Postecoglou continued: "I haven't spoken to him since this came out. He's obviously been away with Uruguay and he's not quite back yet but I spoke to him in the lead-up to it.

"As I said at the time, he understands he's made a mistake and he's ready to accept whatever comes his way. As a club, we are going to support him because the one thing that is undeniable to me is I know him, he's an outstanding person, he's an unbelievable team-mate and he's a person with the utmost character and he's made a mistake.

"I think when that happens, our role with that is to support him in any way we can."

READ MORE: Reece James ruled out as Chelsea prepare for Leicester clash