Radu Dragusin set to make first Tottenham start against Fulham

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou has backed Radu Dragusin to grasp his opportunity with the January recruit primed to make his full debut at Fulham on Saturday.

Micky Van de Ven has been ruled out of the London derby with a minor hamstring injury, which is only set to sideline the Dutch defender until after the international break.

Van de Ven’s absence will hand Dragusin a first start since his move from Genoa in a transfer that could rise to £25million.

“Radu will start tomorrow, it’s a good opportunity for him because he’s had to be patient but he’s worked very hard.”

Ange on Radu Dragusin ahead of #FULTOT  pic.twitter.com/8zpHbj4Xv2

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“I’ll take the suspense out of it. He’ll start tomorrow,” Postecoglou revealed.

“It’s a good opportunity for him. We obviously brought him in with a view that it was evident we were very short in that area and he’d had a very good half-season in Italy.

“He’s had to be patient and I said to him when we signed him I couldn’t tell him when he’d get an opportunity but he would get an opportunity.

“I thought he did well when he came on the other day (against Aston Villa). It was good that the team was already in a good rhythm but the scoreline was still 0-0.

“He contributed to how we finished the game. He’s a pretty assured young guy. He has belief in himself, he has really good people around him.

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“I think he can bring something to the team. He’s a very strong defender, very good in the duels and I think we’re going to need that tomorrow.

“More than anything that half-an-hour at least gives him that game-time he needs at the level.

“He was exposed to a very good team and some very good opposition