Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou is hopeful that the injury Dejan Kulusevski picked up in Sunday's 2-0 Premier League loss to Crystal Palace is not serious.

The Lilywhites were dealt another highly untimely fitness concern ahead of the Europa League final in the London derby, as Kulusevski was forced off with an apparent whack to the knee.

Spurs are already missing James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall for the rest of the season due to respective knee and ankle injuries, while Son Heung-min has only just recovered from a foot problem.

However, Kulusevski was able to walk off unaided as he was replaced by Mikey Moore in the first half, and speaking to reporters in his post-game press conference, Postecoglou allayed any concerns.

"He should be OK. Just talking to him after. The medical team are not too concerned about him. It was just a knock," the Australian said after a record-breaking defeat in the Premier League.

Tottenham break unwanted club record in Crystal Palace defeat

© Imago

Unsurprisingly prioritising the imminent trip to Bilbao to meet Manchester United in the Europa League final, Postecoglou made another eight changes to his starting lineup for Sunday's derby.

Crystal Palace also have bigger fish to fry as they look ahead to next weekend's FA Cup final with Manchester City, but the Eagles were the only team to turn up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Two strikes from Eberechi Eze gifted Palace a deserved victory, and Oliver Glasner's men could have easily won by more had it not been for stand-in Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who made eight saves.

However, the January signing could not prevent Spurs from slipping to their 20th top-flight loss of the season, the most defeats that they have suffered in a single campaign in the Premier League era.

Speaking to BBC Match of the Day, Postecoglou lamented the amount of alterations he had to make on the afternoon, highlighting Spurs' exploits in both the Europa League and EFL Cup, where they were knocked out by Liverpool in the semi-finals.

Postecoglou laments "disjointed" Tottenham in record-breaking loss

© Imago

"We weren't good enough today," he added. "We didn't reach the level we needed in the Premier League and fell short. We were disjointed because of the number of changes to the team which obviously affects what we're trying to do.

"I still think we could have performed better. We haven't been able to navigate that process as much as we would have liked, we wouldn't have made as many changes in an ideal world but that's the situation we're in.

"It's quite clear why we've lost so many games. If we weren't in Europe or had a Carabao Cup run and only had the league to think about since Christmas then we'd be higher in the league."

However, Tottenham's Europa League final opponents Man United also took a hit to their momentum on Sunday, going down 2-0 at home to West Ham United as they dropped down to 16th and Spurs 17th in the Premier League table.

The Lilywhites now have four days to rest before taking on Aston Villa next Friday, a match rescheduled to allow more recuperation time for the Europa League final on May 21.

Written by
Ben Knapton