There is no rest for a weary Tottenham Hotspurs as Spurs take on Liverpool in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final tomorrow afternoon. Ange Postecoglou was back at the microphone for a press conference, his first since his comments about a “fair and level playing field” after the defeat to Newcastle.

The good news is that all players affected by the virus that struck the squad last week have recovered. The bad news is that no one has returned from the injury list and Spurs will be without Yves Bissouma and James Maddison as both are suspended.

“Net-wise, we’re still down. We’ll get Bentancur back, but we’ll lose Maddison and Sarr to suspension. A few numbers down there.

“No one is left vulnerable. Mikey (Moore) could potentially be available on the bench. Everyone else is definitely doing better from the weekend, Radu (Dragusin) has recovered, Archie (Gray) is doing better. They were the most important. Deki (Kulusevski) was under the weather but he’s fine. Pretty much like the weekend plus Bentancur minus the other two.”

That’s great, but what about Richarlison? Photos emerged last week suggesting he had returned to training. Ange confirmed he is back, but after rupturing his Achilles tendon in his first game back from another long-term injury, the club are taking no risks with his recovery and fitness.

“(Richy) is training. The whole plan with him and what happened this year was to give him two full, solid weeks of training. His second week will be next week and if he gets through that he will be fine. “

The other big question tomorrow is who will line up between the posts. Fraser Forster appears to have recovered from his illness, but Spurs have just signed a genuine first-team replacement for the injured Guglielmo Vicario in Czech goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, and third goalkeeper Brandon Austin has made a very competent club debut.

Is there a chance Kinsky could start just days after arriving at the club? Postecoglou has not revealed anything.

“We’ll see. I think he arrived on Sunday. He has had a few days of training. He is registered and eligible to play. We have a few final things to do with him and then we’ll see.

“(Kinsky) is someone we wanted to bring in at the end of the season over the summer. We’ve been following him all season and he’s definitely someone we’re really excited about. Given our current goalkeeping situation, we obviously looked at the possibility of bringing him in in January. It wasn’t easy because he’s doing very well for his club, his club is doing well, they’re in Europe and leading their league. The club have worked really hard to complete the deal over this period and this is a huge advantage for us and gives our goalkeepers real quality.”

“We have to select players and goalkeepers that fit our system and our style of play and (playing from the back) is certainly something he can do very well, but you know, it’s his all-round goalkeeping ability.” Johan (Lange) and his scouts did a lot of background work on him and followed him throughout the year. The intention was to get him in the summer, but of course not only has that changed, but we also thought about why we wouldn’t try to get him earlier when it comes to goalkeepers.

“I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen but the club worked really hard to make it happen and I think it’s great for them, it’s great for us. It gives him the opportunity to come into the game a little earlier and learn the way we do things, and it also adds real quality to our goalkeeping.”

Finally, the big news of the day was the club’s announcement that it has initiated a one-year contract extension for Son Heung-Min, keeping him at the club until 2026. This extension raises a whole new set of questions about what the club intends to do with Son after next season, but Postecoglou made it clear that he wants to make sure Sonny has something to celebrate before he leaves the club.

“Yes, brilliant. He has already had an outstanding career at this football club. He has played a big role in the last 10 years. Made an impression at the club and in the Premier League. It’s great to extend his stay and the aim is to ensure he ends his Tottenham career with silver medals.”

Tottenham take on Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday at 3pm ET / 8pm UK.