Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Ange Postecoglou made headlines when criticising Timo Werner after the 1-1 draw with Rangers in the Europa League - but he explained it was part of a wider message.

The Australian manager kept repeating that he needs all his fit players to "fight" in a week which could "set up our season".

There is no doubt that the conversation around Spurs is currently negative but the season is salvageable, with qualification for the knockout stage of the Europa League looking likely.

Hit by an injury crisis, including the loss of key players Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, it is now on the remaining players to keep the season alive in the Premier League and Carabao Cup.

Spurs are 11th in the Premier League but face bottom of the league Southampton on Sunday.

And what follows is a match at home to Manchester United in the Carabao Cup quarter-final before Liverpool visit the following Sunday in the league.

Werner felt the full force of Postecoglou's criticism this week but he insists other players have fallen short, not including the exceptionally versatile 18-year-old Archie Gray, and increasingly his star man Dejan Kulusevski.

He has laid down a challenge for his remaining players to keep the season alive, amid criticism and what he labelled an "injury-crisis" with only one fit centre-back available.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery on Ollie Watkins: "I don’t know because we are waiting, yesterday he was recovering and today in the afternoon we are going to train and in the case he is training normal, feeling good, he’s going to be available tomorrow."

Crystal Palace

Image source, PA Media

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner provided the following fitness update ahead of Sunday's trip to Brighton.

Adam Wharton is "unfortunately not" available. Glasner said: "He [Wharton] had a little bit of a reaction after the Wednesday and Thursday training sessions. They were very intense sessions and he had a bit of a reaction, so we had to reduce his workload, so he won’t be available.

"It’s looking like nothing serious. Let’s see if he’s available for the Arsenal game in the week [Wednesday], or maybe at the weekend [Saturday 21st]."

On Joel Ward: "We have a bit of a question mark with Joel Ward – he has some issues with his calf – but let’s see how it goes, it looks like maybe he’s not available."

Glasner also confirmed that Matheus Franca is still in rehabilitation and "if everything goes in the right direction," he will return to team training in the New Year.

West Ham United

West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui says there are "two little issues" in his squad, which will need to be reassessed "in the next couple of days", ahead of their trip to Vitality Stadium.

On whether Niclas Fullkrug is fit to start a Premier League match yet, Lopetegui added: "He has fully recovered, that's why he has been working with us in the last 10 days. He is working, in a normal way, with the rest of the players so he is ready.

"I think it's good news for us that he is back and he is going to be ready to help us. Let's see whether he is going to be [starting] or not but, step-by-step, he is feeling better and stronger."

West Ham United

Image source, PA Media

West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui has confirmed his squad are going to visit Michail Antonio, who is still in hospital after a car crash: "We are going to visit him tomorrow. The main thing is that we are happy he is recovering well. We are very close to him and his family, and we wish him the best for the coming days.

"I think the nicest thing is that he was able to talk to us before the last match. Look at the car crash, it was one miracle - so we are happy for him.

"He is strong, for sure, and he will recover himself in the next months. The focus is for him to recover - firstly as a man, before a player, again."

Bournemouth

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola on three Premier League wins in eight days: "When you're in a competition, you don't enjoy it a lot. What I think is 24 hours, if you win or you lose you have to do this in the period of 24 hours and then start thinking about the next game. It has been a very good week, it's nine points."

Bournemouth

Image source, Reuters

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola on team news: "Marcos [Senesi] has an injury, it's a surgery. When you have a muscle injury and then take the decision to go to the surgeon, then it's a big one. It happened to us in Julian's [Araujo] case, pretty similar. Three, four months normally is what it takes.

"[Marcus Tavernier] is a muscle injury, a normal one, he will be out for some weeks but I don't know how long. It's not like a big one, like it is in Marcos' case."

Arsenal

Image source, Reuters

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka's recent form: "It is remarkable, doing what he is doing every three days in all the competitions in very impressive."

Arsenal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta on facing Everton: "We are so used to playing every three days.

"We’re really looking forward to the game and we have to be really good to beat them."

Arsenal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta on paying tribute to Kevin Campbell - who played for both clubs - at tomorrow's game: "You can tell the way people talk, their face and tone about him how special he was.

"The club is working very hard to recognise who he was and to make it a very special day."

Image source, Reuters

Campbell died earlier this year after a short illness. He scored 148 goals in 542 appearances across spells with eight clubs during his career.

Arsenal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said centre-back Gabriel could return for tomorrow's meeting with Everton at the Emirates Stadium.

Meanwhile, Italy international Riccardo Calafiori remains sidelined.

Some breaking news from a team with different pressures to Wolves...

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Wolves chairman Jeff Shi has backed under-fire manager Gary O'Neil but admits it is "essential" results improve.

The head coach has been under increasing pressure following two wins from the opening 15 games which have left Wolves second bottom of the Premier League.

Three straight defeats looked to have put him on the brink but Wolves are standing by the 41-year-old ahead of Saturday's visit of fellow strugglers Ipswich.

"I remain grateful to Gary for stepping into such a demanding situation just days before the beginning of a new season [when he replaced Julen Lopetegui in August 2023], and for his commitment to the club every day since then," Shi wrote in his Wolverhampton Express & Star column.

"While he knows that improving our results quickly is essential for everyone associated with the football club, we are united in supporting him as all of us strive to make that progress happen."

Wolves

Image source, Reuters

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil on whether lessons have been learned from the club's recent transfer strategy:

"I think January will be very different. Whether that's a lesson learned or it's just an adjustment, these things always evolve. Nothing is ever fixed, you can always tweak things.

"January will be important for us and the line of questioning leads me to speaking about these things, but my focus is on this group and how much we can get out of them.

"I'm excited to get them going again for tomorrow and I'm excited for this group to prove everybody wrong and change the situation, regardless of what January looks like. Let's get this group in a place that they can do it, and whatever happens after that happens.

"My faith in this group will always be 100%. They know they need to push to do more, I need to push to do more, but this group is going to find a way to turn things around."

Wolves

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil on receiving public backing from chairman Jeff Shi earlier this week:

"I've always been in contact with Matt [Hobbs, sporting director] and Jeff, and the situation we've been in, everyone here is aware of.

"If I'd been put into a situation where we were free-spending, I was cherry-picking Premier League players and we'd won three games in whatever it is, I'd have lost my job a while ago.

"But that's not the situation we're in, the situation we're in is very different to that.

"Of course I understand the importance of results for the club, for everybody around the club, and we're working hard to improve them.

"There's always been an understanding and a realism attached to where we are. Of course we need to do better, nobody wants to be on nine points after 15 points, but there have been good conversations with Matt and Jeff about what we do now, what we do with January approaching and the direction that we try to push the club in."

Wolves

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil, confirming that Nelson Semedo will replace Mario Lemina as captain:

"These things - sometimes they can be tough to deal with and sometimes you can come out of them in a good spot, and I feel like we have.

"I have a lot of respect for Mario and what he's still going to be able to do for us. When we get the best out of him on the pitch, his level is so high that he's still going to play a big part for us.

"He'll still be around that group of senior players that lead the team, but at this moment we feel it's best for Nelson to lead the group."

Wolves

Image source, PA Media

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil on how Mario Lemina responded to losing the captaincy:

"Mario's fine. It was a conversation, it was nothing more than that.

"The most important thing to come out of it is that we need to get the best out of everybody.

"Of course, the other night sparked the conversation, but it was an important conversation that had to be had.

"Myself and Mario have a good understanding now of how we move forward and what it looks like.

"We dealt with it earlier in the week, so the focus since that moment has been firmly on Ipswich."

Wolves

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil has just told a news conference that after conversations this week, Mario Lemina will no longer captain the side and full-back Nelson Semedo will captain the team moving forward.

Lemina was involved in a post-match altercation with West Ham skipper Jarrod Bowen and others following Monday's loss at London Stadium.

Full quotes to come.

Read more news and analysis of events at Molineux on our dedicated Wolves page

Speaking of problems, Wolves have made a change after some internal unrest...

Manchester United

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says he is not focusing on Man City's patchy form, ahead of Sunday's derby: "No, I never think about these things. We will face a great opponent and I'm more focused on our problems.

"So we have a lot of issues here, so I'm more focused on what we should do on Sunday to win the game. So I'm really focused on my team."