Stoke City: Ashley Phillips development shared amid Spurs injury issues | OneFootball

Spurs are considering recalling Ashley Phillips from his loan spell at Stoke City due to their defensive injury crisis.

Tottenham are considering recalling Ashley Phillips from his loan spell at Stoke City after injuries to centre-backs Mickey van de Ven and Cristian Romero.

Ange Postecoglou is enduring a tough spell with the Londoners, with their most recent defeat at home to Chelsea coming at a cost, as first-choice defensive pairing van de Ven and Romero went off injured, with Welsh international Ben Davies also out.

That has left Spurs very low on numbers at the back, with Radu Dragusin the only senior natural centre-back at the club, and he is set to be partnered by Archie Gray against Rangers this evening.

Spurs consider Ashley Phillips recall

Perhaps unsurprisingly, London Standard reporter Dan Kilpatrick has revealed that, due to the injury issues, Spurs are weighing up whether to bring Phillips back to the capital.

The update states that no concrete decision has been made, but there is a recall clause as part of the agreement that took Phillips to Stoke, so it would be straightforward if they wanted to bring him back.

However, one issue is that if Phillips did return to Spurs and play, he would not be able to play for another club again this season, as he would’ve featured for two teams.

Stoke City will be keen to keep Ashley Phillips

Stoke are enduring a very tough spell, with the late defeat at Luton in the week making it three losses on the bounce, and the Potters haven’t won in six.

So, it’s a very difficult spell for Narcis Pelach, and news that he could lose Phillips is not what he needs right now.

The 19-year-old has featured regularly since his appointment, and he has arguably been the best defender for Stoke in that period.

The January window is going to be crucial for Stoke, and the focus for Jon Walters and Pelach will be on incomings, so this would present them with another issue that needs to be solved, and bringing in a new defender was likely to be a priority anyway.

From Phillips’ perspective, it’s a difficult one to judge. The chance of returning to Spurs and playing would obviously appeal, but van de Ven, Romero and Davies will return next month, so game time may be hard to come by on a consistent basis.

With that in mind, he may want to stay at Stoke as opposed to spending the bulk of the campaign on the bench.

Ultimately, discussions will need to be had between Spurs, Stoke and Phillips, and a decision will no doubt be made in early January.

In the meantime, Phillips will be concentrating on helping the Potters