Spurs boss Postecoglou urges out-of-favour Johnson to keep working

Tottenham Hotspur winger Brennan Johnson will eventually return to the starting line-up as coach Ange Postecoglou looks to shuffle his pack during a busy run, the Australian said on Tuesday ahead of a trip to Nottingham Forest.

Johnson, 23, had a promising spell earlier in the season during which he scored six goals in nine Premier League matches, but has fallen out of favour in recent weeks due to the form of teammate Dejan Kulusevski.

"Brennan just needs to keep doing what he's doing. I've had Deki (Kulusevski) there and he's done really well and scoring goals," Postecoglou told reporters ahead of Thursday's match.

"It's about the balance of the team. It's about managing that load. We're already overburdening some of the players up there. Brennan will get his minutes."

Spurs will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 6-3 loss at home to leaders Liverpool on Sunday, which left the north London outfit 11th in the standings and eight points behind fourth-placed Forest.

With the club struggling in the league and still involved in both the Europa League and League Cup, Postecoglou said the squad would need to be reinforced in the winter transfer window.

"We will be short in a couple of areas and we are going to need a boost, but January is a bit tricky in terms of what sort of players you can bring in," he added.

"For us, ideally – and for any club I guess – it would be people that are going to make you stronger. But I think the fact that we're in the League Cup semifinals, we've still got Europe,

we're in the FA Cup, we're in all of the competitions - it's not like our schedule will ease up at any stage.

"So, it makes sense to try and reinforce but where and what number we will sort of have to wait and see."

Postecoglou also said the Spurs squad had no new absences, adding: "Destiny (Udogie) was on the bench (against Liverpool) but wasn't 100 per cent quite right and should be right.

"(Rodrigo) Bentancur is available after his suspension. That's kind of it for now."