Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has admitted Guglielmo Vicario’s serious ankle injury was a shock but has backed the squad to cope.

Vicario fractured his ankle during Saturday’s remarkable 4-0 win at Manchester City and will not play again until the new year.

The Italy international has been a virtual ever-present since he signed in the summer of 2023 and featured in every Premier League fixture under Postecoglou, but the Australian coach will have to turn to back-up Fraser Forster for the foreseeable future.

Postecoglou said: “I guess a bit of a shock first of all because we saw he picked up an injury during the game and he was sore at half-time, but there was no doubt about him continuing.

“Post-game, again he was sore but you go, ‘he’s played 60 minutes, we’ll tape him up and go again’.

“Externally now people realise it is testament to him as a person because he’s as tough as nails and the fact he played 60 minutes with a fractured ankle is quite outstanding.

“Once the shock wears off, you have to process he’ll be missing for a while but knowing him, he’ll push the limits of how long that is and knowing him you’ll get daily updates on his Instagram.

“It’s a blow but we’ve dealt with setbacks before and we’ll deal with this one.”

While Postecoglou was reluctant to put a timescale on Vicario’s recovery ahead of Thursday’s Europa League home tie with Roma, he acknowledges it would be “months” out rather than weeks.

The Australian offered his backing to 36-year-old Forster, who has made three appearances this season, and revealed the club would not look at the free-agent market.

“We’re happy with what we’ve got,” he said. “I don’t think us signing a free agent now is going to help us. This injury doesn’t change any plans for (the transfer window in) January.”

Postecoglou also paid tribute to his opposing coach Claudio Ranieri ahead of their first meeting on the touchline.

“It’s unbelievable. It just goes to show the passion he has for the game. I’m sure there are more enjoyable ways to live his life now, but he still has it in him,” he said.

“I’ve not come across him before, but I’m looking forward to saying hello. It’s always nice to meet people who’ve made a massive impact on football, particularly managers.

“He’s always come across as a gentleman. I’m looking forward to meeting him. It just goes to show that bug you have as a manager, for being on the touchline, doesn’t leave you.”

Postecoglou also reflected on Ranieri being able to lead Leicester to a stunning Premier League title win.

“I don’t know if it’s inspired, but certainly it’s what I love about football,” he said.

“There aren’t many sports where that can happen. Such an unlikely story of a club and a manager, who had already had a really strong reputation, it comes together like that in the biggest league in the world. It’s a hell of a story.

“It’s one of those where if you saw it in a movie, you’d think, ‘great movie but … it’s never going to happen’. And it did.

“Everyone who lived that experience within Leicester and everyone associated with the people in there and for Claudio and his family, that’s all we crave, just to leave some sort of imprint and footprint in our careers that lasts beyond our ability to do what we do.

“He’s certainly left an enormous footprint with that season at Leicester.”

With PA