Tottenham Hotspur kick start their pre-season friendlies later today when they travel to Scotland to face Hearts of Midlothian.
The game against the Scottish side will mark the first official friendly of Tottenham‘s summer having recently played Cambridge United in a behind-the-scenes game.
Ange Postecoglou will be going into the game without a number of his regular first team players following the two major international tournaments this summer.
Cristian Romero will be one of those having got his hands on his second successive Copa America trophy on Sunday.
The likes of Guglielmo Vicario shouldn’t be too far off returning after Italy were knocked out of the Euros a couple of weeks ago.
But this will provide a number of youngsters an opportunity to impress Postecoglou ahead of what is poised to be a busy campaign.
Archie Gray set to be handed Spurs debut
It has been a slow start to the summer window at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with youngster Archie Gray marking the only permanent addition.
The ‘phenomenal‘ 18-year-old midfielder has landed as one of the young options Postecoglou has in midfield alongside Lucas Bergvall but he holds more experience at a higher level than the Swede.
Gray is said to have really impressed those at Tottenham in his first full week of training at Hotspur Way and it would not be a surprise to see him start on Wednesday.
Postecoglou struggled to find his best midfield three last season and with more options now to choose, he must use this pre-season to get on top of that decision.
Jamie Donley to start at left-back
Destiny Udogie has returned to training following his quadricep surgery which curtailed his 2023/24 season.
However, the Italian is not believed to be in a position which will be able to see him compete in a friendly just yet.
The future of youngster Jamie Donley remains uncertain with Spurs potentially set to loan him out to continue his development.
However, against Cambridge over the weekend, Donley played at left-back due to the lack of options and is believed to have done a fine job.
Heung-min Son has to be looked after this summer
Spurs are still to address their issues up top with no striker through the doors currently this summer.
Heung-min Son ended last season as Tottenham’s top scorer but the South Korean certainly faded last towards the backend of the campaign.
This season is going to be even more difficult for Spurs now they have Europa League football to compete with which will mean the now 32-year-old captain is going to have to be managed well to maintain his high levels.
Spurs are set to take off for their Asian tour where Son is going to be the focal point in their games in South Korea which may mean his role on Wednesday night is limited.
Tottenham predicted XI vs Hearts: Brandon Austin; Pedro Porro, Ashley Phillips, Ben Davies, Jamie Donley; Archie Gray, Yves Bissouma, James Maddison; Timo Werner, Dane Scarlett, Dejan Kulusevski
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