Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou eased any fears over another injury for centre-back Micky van de Ven following their 2-2 Premier League draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The Dutchman was making his first top-flight start since sustaining a severe hamstring issue against Chelsea at the start of November, having been back on the bench against Burnley in the FA Cup.
With Cristian Romero recovering from a hamstring concern of his own quicker than expected, the duo were able to reform the central pairing which was a cornerstone of Spurs' record-breaking start to the season under Postecoglou, leaving new signing Radu Dragusin on the bench.
However, during the dying embers of the contest at Old Trafford, Van de Ven was noticeably hobbling around and also went down holding his leg before being replaced by Emerson Royal in the 89th minute.
The former Wolfsburg man - who adapted seamlessly to the Premier League after his summer arrival - had already missed nine top-flight games with his previous issue, and fears were naturally raised of another potentially serious injury.
© Reuters
Postecoglou could hardly have been less concerned about Van de Ven's condition after the game, though, as when asked about the risk of the centre-back re-injuring himself, the Australian replied: "Don't know what you mean."
When pressed on Van de Ven looking visibly worse for wear towards the end of the game, Postecoglou dismissed the notion that he was "struggling" and chalked up his gingerly movements to muscular cramps.
"He wasn't struggling. He was tired because he got cramp, it was pretty clear I thought. It was cramp and I don't know what that's like. I haven't had cramp for a long, long while.
"He gave everything and it's a credit to him. He's worked hard on his rehab and you never know what the right time to throw them back in is, until they play you don't know how they're going to get through.
"He was feeling really good about things, really confident and in a tough place against some pretty quick opponents where all of those things are tested I thought he passed it all with flying colours."
© Reuters
As well as the return of Van de Ven and Romero, Sunday's stalemate saw Postecoglou bring RB Leipzig loanee Timo Werner into a depleted attack for his Tottenham debut, and he capped off a promising display with the assist for Rodrigo Bentancur's second-half leveller.
Werner was hit and miss during his time at Chelsea, but Postecoglou believes that the German will "enjoy his football" in North London, adding: "Timo, he's had two sessions with us, he hasn't started a game for ages but I saw today I think he can be really exciting for us once he get to understand our game and gets up to speed with our training.
"You could see there were little moments today, he was always a threat and I think he will enjoy his football here. More importantly today I had no option but to start him. He was a really willing participant in it. He wanted to help. He put his hand up and said whatever I can do, I'll do and it's a credit to him."
Bentancur's leveller 50 seconds into the second half cancelled out a Marcus Rashford strike for Man United, who had previously been pegged back by Richarlison after Rasmus Hojlund fired the hosts ahead with a ferocious strike into the roof of the net.
Tottenham - who also broke a club goalscoring record at Old Trafford - are now only behind fourth-placed Arsenal on goal difference in the table, although their North London rivals do have a game in hand.
Next up for Postecoglou's side is a blockbuster FA Cup fourth-round tie at home to holders Manchester City on January 26.
Ben Knapton
