Ange Postecoglou explains taking off Richarlison during Tottenham’s defeat to Leicester | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has explained his decision to take Richarlison off against Leicester City on Sunday.

Spurs suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Leicester at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday.

Richarlison started the match for Tottenham. The 27-year-old Brazil international forward was deployed as the centre-forward in a 4-3-3 formation.

The former Watford and Everton forward found the back of the net in the 33rd minute.

Richarlison, though, had to come off in the 54th minute, with Mikey Moore replacing him.

When asked to explain the decision to take off Richarlison, Postecoglou told Football.London: “He was feeling his groin mate, he should have come off at half-time but he wanted to give another 10 minutes. I could see he wasn’t running well so that is why I took him off.”

View: Richarlison injury worrying for Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham have been badly affected by injuries. The likes of Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero and Mickey van de Ven are on the sidelines at the moment, while Fraser Forster did not play against Leicester.

Richarlison has not been particularly great for Spurs overall, but he is still an important player for the North London club,

The Brazilian has had injury problems this campaign, and his start against Leicester on Sunday was his first in the Premier League this season.

Richarlison has scored two goals and given one assist in eight Premier League appearances and has scored one goal in two UEFA Europa League games for the North London club this campaign.

Tottenham need as many fit players as they can, and this latest injury to Richarlison will come as a blow.

Spurs are 15th in the Premier League table at the moment with 24 points from 23 matches. The North London club are eight points above the bottom three.

Tottenham will return to action on Thursday evening when they take on Elfsborg at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the League Stage of the UEFA Europa League.

Spurs are sixth in the league table in the UEFA Europa League with 14 points from seven games.