Tottenham's Dier remains 'part of this team'

2 years ago 37

ARTICLE AD BOX

Eric Dier playing for Tottenham during their friendly against Barcelona

Tottenham defender Eric Dier remains "part of this team" despite missing their 2-2 draw at Brentford, says manager Ange Postecoglou.

The new Spurs boss left the England international out of his squad for Sunday's season opener.

Dier, who joined Spurs in 2014, was overlooked for the captaincy following Harry Kane's departure and has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia.

"Eric is in the same boat as all the other boys," Postecoglou said.

"Eric is part of this team. He's working hard in training and is available for selection."

After Kane's move to Bayern Munich, Postecoglou named Son Heung-min as the club's new skipper with James Maddison and Cristian Romero listed as vice-captains.

Romero and new signing Micky van de Ven started at centre-half against Brentford, with Davinson Sanchez replacing Romero after 14 minutes.

'Impediment or opportunity' - can Spurs find a new 'superstar'?

Dier was one of several senior players left out for Sunday's game along with Hugo Lloris, Djed Spence, Japhet Tanganga, Sergio Reguilon and Tanguy Ndombele.

"We left a few out and we left some players on the bench that are very good players," Postecoglou added. "We need a strong squad, it's not about 11 players.

"My decisions then are what I think will give us the best chance of success for any given game and then we reassess the week after. There's nothing really unusual there."

Only Kane, Son and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg made more league starts for Spurs last season than Dier (31), who has one year left on his contract.

How to follow Tottenham on the BBC banner