Frankfurtvs.Spurs

The South Korea international was absent from the 4-2 Premier League loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers over the weekend and was also missing from open training ahead of the trip to Deutsche Bank Park.

Thursday's second leg is arguably make or break for Spurs boss Postecoglou, whose side are up against it after being held to a 1-1 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last week.

However, Postecoglou will have to make do without his captain, who has only completed the full 90 minutes in two of his last 10 appearances in all competitions, as he revealed in his pre-game press conference that Son had been dealing with a foot problem for a while.

"Sonny didn't travel in the end. He's the only one who misses out. He has been battling with this foot problem for a few weeks now and he's managed through it, but it's got too painful over the last few days," football.london quotes Postecoglou as saying.

Son "tried really hard" to be available for Frankfurt

"He tried to train yesterday and just wasn't right, so we've made the decision to leave him at home to allow him to recuperate to see the best way to recovery for him.

"It's a blow but it's consistent with everything else that's happened this year, so it's just another challenge for us to overcome. Unfortunate for him and he tried really hard.

"The reason we left him out at weekend was to give him time to recover because he's been struggling with this foot thing for a couple of weeks now, but he couldn't make it. You know, we've had these challenges all year and it's just another we need to overcome."

Son joins long-term ACL victim Radu Dragusin on the sidelines for Thursday's second leg, but Dejan Kulusevski was back from a foot issue of his own at Molineux, and Postecoglou confirmed that Kevin Danso could return from a hamstring problem against Die Adler.

"Everyone else is good. I guess the only notable addition is Kevin, who trained and is available as well, so really it's only Sonny that misses out," the Australian concluded.

Harry Kane record safe as Son ruled out of Frankfurt game

While Son's absence is a setback for Tottenham as a whole, the former Bayer Leverkusen man will also miss out on the opportunity to break a club record set by Harry Kane.

The South Korean's appearance against Frankfurt in the first leg saw him make his 67th appearance for Tottenham in European competition, the same tally that Kane managed for Spurs.

Son therefore would have set a new outright club record had he played on Thursday, but Kane's record will be safe for a little while longer, potentially for several months unless Postecoglou's side can defy the odds in Frankfurt.

If Tottenham can prevail on the road, their reward will be a two-legged semi-final showdown with either Lazio or Bodo/Glimt, the latter of whom boast a surprise 2-0 lead over the Serie A giants from the first leg.

Written by

Ben Knapton