Micky van de Ven delivers strong Ange Postecoglou response and makes clear injury statement

Micky van de Ven made some strong statements at his press conference in Frankfurt on Wednesday evening ahead of Tottenham's Europa League quarter-final second leg and we've got a full transcript with every word the young Dutchman said.

It's a big night on Thursday with and Eintracht Frankfurt doing battle at the Deutsche Bank Park with the score tied at 1-1 from the first leg in N17. Van de Ven was up before the media in Frankfurt and was asked plenty of questions, ranging from the future of his manager Ange Postecoglou, his own injury status, whether he minds missing every other game and also what effect he thinks his hamstring problems could have on the rest of his career.

Our Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Van de Ven. Here's a full transcript from his press conference at Deutsche Bank Park.

How are you feeling body-wise, rhythm-wise as you're playing every other game at the moment?

I'm feeling well. Every week you play a game...normal teams that don't play Europe, they play like this, so you play on a weekend, have a week off and then play on the weekend again. So to be honest I feel good, I feel recovered and I feel sharp. I'm ready to go.

It's a big game and there's been plenty of speculation around the manager, how much do you want to win for Ange?

We all still have the trust in the gaffer and still have trust in the way he's playing, so tomorrow we want to win the game of course for him, but also for us, also for the club, and also for the fans. It hasn't been a really good season, but it's a big game for us and of course we want to achieve something special this season. I think this is the best way to do it.

Does the season hinge on this?

Of course, we have also some Premier League games to play, but if we want to win some silverware, of course it has to be the Europa League, and we have to win this game to go to the next round. It's a big game for us, yeah.

What's Ange's message been to the players?

That it's a big game for us, but it's also a game like every week. We have to play our best football, we have to play the way we want to play, we want to create as many chances as we did in the last game against them. Hopefully we can win this game and go to the next round.

Are you worried about the long-term impact of injuries on your career?

No not really. I recovered well. Of course, I had some injuries in the last couple of years, but I'm feeling well and I'm not really worried about something for my future. I know I train and do everything to make my hamstrings as strong as possible, and the rest of my body also, so I don't really stress about something for my future.

Robin Koch says the stadium will be like a lions' den, what do you remember about the atmosphere from your games here in the atmosphere and have you told your team-mates?

To be honest I haven't really spoken with the guys about the atmosphere, but I know it's going to be a good atmosphere. The last time I played here with Wolfsburg was also a tough game, the fans are really behind the team, so it will be a 12th man, but I think we should be fine. Of course there will be noise but we need to focus on the pitch, that's the most important thing. It's going to be a good atmosphere, but we're ready for it.

You know Vicario and Romero well, they made mistakes on Sunday, how have they processed it?

I think making a mistake is normal. Of course after the game they were sad to make mistakes because they expect better from themselves. it can happen that you can make a mistake and after the game you can’t accept that form yourself. But now if you look at them they are ready to go for the game tomorrow and they are as sharp as they normally are.

What's your fitness situation - why aren’t you playing every game? You've been to seek outside help haven't you?

Why I don’t play every week, that’s not a question you should ask me, you have to ask the gaffer. But body-wise I'm feeling really well and really good - why I don’t play every week you will have to ask the gaffer for this. But I’m feeling well. I’ve seen some people outside of the training ground, some specialists. They have been helping me with running and understanding my body a bit more and I've learned some things from them. Like I said, I feel really good right now and ready to go.

How important is playing every game and how important is playing in Europe for you?

Of course I want to play every game. Football is what you love the most, every game you want to play. But yeah, Europa League is a really important competition for us this season, we have some Premier League games ahead of us but we want to win some silverware and qualify for a European tournament next season, then of course, the Europa League is a really important stage for us.

You mentioned it's a really big game, do you want to prove something to the fans?

Yes, it hasn't been our best season of course but we also want to prove to them that we have the quality and ability to prove we are a really good team. And when everybody is fit and the whole team is strong, we can achieve some beautiful things. Hopefully we can show this tomorrow to our own fans but also to those that are doubting us.

How much confidence can you take from the AZ comeback?

Also I think in the first leg against Frankfurt we played a really good game, we created a lot of chances. It gave us a lot of confidence, it showed us that we can play against this strong Frankfurt. We have big confidence for tomorrow and we want to show what we did in the first leg and hopefully we can go through to the next round.

You're only 23, but viewed as leader, how important will that leadership be?

I want to help the guys like I always do, this is a very big game, it's the quarterfinal of a European competition. I want to go into every big game and help the guys push towards the goal we want to reach.

With Hugo Ekitike, how does he compare to Isak with his 21 goals?

Yeah, he's a really good player and scored a really good goal against us. Tomorrow it's going to be me and the players playing next to me, it's going to be our job to eliminate him from the game tomorrow. He's an unbelievable threat from them, we want to eliminate him tomorrow and get the win.

Sinking Saints and preparing for Frankfurt - to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham

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