Ange Postecoglou knows James Maddison is eager to make up for lost time but has admitted the Tottenham playmaker found his spell on the sidelines tough.
Maddison will return for Friday’s visit of Manchester City in the FA Cup after almost three months without football due to ankle ligament damage.
It halted Maddison’s brilliant start to life at Spurs and Postecoglou revealed the England midfielder struggled at times during the longest absence of his career.
“Not low but it was tough for him, because he does love his football, he loves the environment of football clubs, he loves the dressing room,” Postecoglou said.
“He’s kind of a force within that. It’s hard for all players when they’ve got to go through rehab, especially a character like him.
“I suggest that our sports science staff wouldn’t enjoy the one-on-one with Madders. He’s more of a guy who wants to be in the group.
“We did send him away in the middle of it. We felt it was good for him to get away with his family, we sent a physio with him (to Dubai).
“I think that helped bridge that time. When he got back from that, he was refreshed.
“Once he could see the finish line of ‘OK, I’m getting to the tail end of it,’ you could see his spirits lift. It’s been good to get him back.
“I know what Madders expects and, in training, you wouldn’t know that he’s missed so much. The quality is there straight away and everyone notices it and he’s looking good physically.
“And he’s the kind of guy who will want to make up for lost time and come back in and make an impact straight away.”
Spurs have not played for two weeks and the break has enabled Maddison to return to full fitness while Ben Davies and Dane Scarlett have recovered from hamstring problems.
Dejan Kulusevski is also available after illness ruled him out of the 2-2 draw at Manchester United a fortnight ago, but Giovani Lo Celso is still sidelined with a muscle issue.
Postecoglou gave his squad four days off during their mid-season break and, while plenty travelled far and wide to the likes of Dubai and Miami, the coach stayed at home to catch up with his family, who were in Australia for Christmas, and also put plans in place for the future.
He added: “My family were away and they just got back, so it was some quiet time at home.
“I kind of use those moments to look a bit farther down and see stuff that needs to do. While the cold face of it is games to prepare for and win, there is some longer-term stuff I am still keen to build within the club.
“You start mapping out those things and see if we can make an impact now or a bit later or when we are going to make an impact.
“It all helps you to get to where you want. Everybody wants to get away but even if I got away I would be thinking along those lines.
“I take what I do really seriously and I feel that sometimes if I switch off for too long, I am kind of missing something. That is the way I am wired.”
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
Huddersfield all but relegated from Championship while League Two play-off spots decided
Huddersfield Town saw their relegation from the Championship all but confirmed after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Saturday.
The Terriers avoided a defeat that would have seen them relegated on Saturday, but even a win on the final day over promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town will not be enough unless they overcome a huge goal difference of 15 goals with Plymouth Argyle.
Birmingham remain in the other relegation place and now must beat Norwich City to stand a chance of staying up with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Blackburn Rovers also still in danger.
At the other end of the table, the Canaries dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City, leaving the door open for Hull City, who face Ipswich Town later today.
Bayern star Kane scores 400th senior goal
Harry Kane surpassed the 400-goal mark for his senior career as his double helped Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.
Kane moved within one of the milestone as he put Bayern 1-0 up after just nine minutes, coolly finishing from close range after Konrad Laimer's pass had set him up.
Then, after Frankfurt levelled through Hugo Ekitike, Kane slotted home a penalty with typical aplomb following a foul on Thomas Muller to move himself onto 400 career goals and ultimately lead Bayern to victory.
Kane scored 280 of his goals in 435 appearances for Tottenham, overtaking Jimmy Greaves to become the club's all-time leading scorer when he netted for the 267th time in Spurs colours against Manchester City last February.
His tally of 213 Premier League goals, meanwhile, puts him just 47 behind the competition's all-time leader Alan Shearer, who scored 260 times for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.
Kane is also the most prolific player in England's history, his 62 goals for the Three Lions coming in 89 international appearances.
He memorably missed the chance to surpass Wayne Rooney's previous record of 53 when he blazed a penalty over the crossbar in the Three Lions' quarter-final defeat to France at the 2022 World Cup, only to clinch his place in history in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy three months later.
The very first goal of Kane's senior career came in League One during a loan spell with Leyton Orient as they thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 in January 2011.
That was the first of five goals Kane scored in O's colours, while he also netted nine times in a loan spell with Millwall in 2011-12 and twice during a stint with Leicester City the following season.
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