Fixture pile-up is threatening players’ careers - Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas

 
GETTY
Giuseppe Muro22 September 2013

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas fears players’ careers are being placed at risk by congested fixture lists.

Spurs host Tromso in the Europa League tomorrow night before trips to Cardiff in the Premier League on Sunday and Aston Villa in the League Cup next Tuesday.

Villas-Boas says stars are being put in serious danger of injury by playing with just one rest day in between games and has urged them to speak out about the risks involved.

“How can a game be scheduled after two days?” said Villas-Boas. “So putting the players’ careers at risk and the risk of injuries.

“I find it incredible that we have to risk injuries to our players in a game we play on Tuesday. The second day of recovery for a player is the most dangerous day for them to pick up an injury. If this is not taken into account, this is bad.

“If the players expressed their worries more . . . normally the authorities prevent these things from happening but the reality is that the risk of injury is tremendous because the pace of the game has changed so much.

“Our squad is big and the rotation that we can do allows us to be strong for the game against Villa. It is nothing new in English football. Other things have to respected, like televised games and fixtures organisation.”

Villas-Boas confirmed that Jermain Defoe is in his squad for tomorrow’s match after the forward questioned his decision to make Emmanuel Adebayor train with the reserves.

“He expressed his opinion and I am fine with that,” said Villas-Boas. “It does not change anything.”

New signing Vlad Chiriches is still waiting for the international clearance he needs to make his Spurs debut.

Villas-Boas said: “At the moment we are waiting for the player to be registered. He is frustrated but there is nothing we can do.”

Villas-Boas also revealed that Aaron Lennon is making steady progress from a foot injury and could return in two weeks.

Meanwhile, Villas-Boas claimed Spurs fans would welcome Prime Minister David Cameron’s calls for them not to be punished for chanting “Yid Army” at games.

He said: “Those words from David Cameron come to Spurs fans with some satisfaction.”

The Football Association last week warned Spurs fans would face prosecution if they continue to use such language at matches.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in