{"id":20249,"date":"2026-07-23T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=20249"},"modified":"2026-07-23T00:01:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T00:01:00","slug":"21-senior-tottenham-players-missing-from-mk-dons-win-and-why-they-were-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=20249","title":{"rendered":"21 senior Tottenham players missing from MK Dons win, and why they were missing"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Several Tottenham senior players did not feature in Roberto De Zerbi\u2019s first pre-season match, as Spurs beat MK Dons 1\u20130 at Hotspur Way. We have highlighted each of them below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tottenham Hotspur supporters finally got to watch their side play football for the first time in over two months on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

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Spurs got their pre-season preparations off to a winning start after beating the League One outfit MK Dons 1-0 in a behind-closed-doors match at Hotspur Way.<\/p>\n

Many Tottenham fans also caught a glimpse of some of the club\u2019s newest recruits, with Mateus Fernandes, Sandro Tonali and Martin Dubravka all featuring.<\/p>\n

In fact, it was Fernandes who announced himself brilliantly to the Lilywhite faithful, as his wonder strike proved enough against their opponent.<\/p>\n

Still, several other senior players were absent, and Spurs Web have now identified each one of these stars.<\/p>\n

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Credit: @harryphoto.kr \/ Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All the senior Tottenham players missing from MK Dons clash<\/h2>\n

In the absence of several senior stars, Roberto De Zerbi naturally turned to his youngsters, who were impressive against MK Dons.<\/p>\n

The likes of Williams Barnett, Tye Hall, Malachi Hardy, Harry Byrne, Rio Kyerematan, Mikey Moore and Yang Min-hyeok all featured.<\/p>\n

But for the senior stars, players who were involved in the World Cup did not make the XI. <\/p>\n

That includes Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Kevin Danso, Rodrigo Bentancur, Micky van de Ven, Jan Paul van Hecke, Pape Matar Sarr, Cristian Romero, Djed Spence, Pedro Porro and Lucas Bergvall.<\/p>\n

While some of these stars have been given extended breaks given how far they went in the World Cup, others have returned.<\/p>\n

Van Hecke, van de Ven, Bergvall and Robertson have all been spotted in training and could well be involved in Tottenham\u2019s next pre-season game. We could also see Danso, Bentancur and Sarr return in the coming days.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Fixture<\/th>\nDate<\/th>\nKick-off (UK)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Spurs vs MK Dons<\/td>\nWednesday, July 22<\/td>\n5pm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Auckland FC vs Spurs<\/td>\nSunday, July 26<\/td>\n4am<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sydney FC vs Spurs<\/td>\nWednesday, July 29<\/td>\n10.45am<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chelsea vs Spurs<\/td>\nSaturday, August 1<\/td>\n10.45am<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spurs vs Getafe CF<\/td>\nSaturday, August 8<\/td>\n3pm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spurs vs TSG Hoffenheim<\/td>\nSaturday, August 15<\/td>\n3pm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spurs vs TSG Hoffenheim<\/td>\nSunday, August 16<\/td>\n12 noon<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Injured and non-World Cup absentees also missing<\/h2>\n

Senior stars currently nursing injuries were also not a part of the Tottenham XI that took on MK Dons. Wilson Odobert, Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski and Xavi Simons all fall into this bracket.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some players who did not feature at the World Cup and are not injured, were still not a part of the squad.<\/p>\n

The likes of James Maddison, Destiny Udogie, Souza, Ashley Phillips, Guglielmo Vicario and Brandon Austin all fall into these categories.<\/p>\n

In all, these were the absent players from the game against MK Dons.<\/p>\n

Absent senior players<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
World Cup absentees<\/th>\nInjured players<\/th>\nOther absentees<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Andy Robertson<\/th>\nWilson Odobert<\/td>\nJames Maddison<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Marcos Senesi<\/th>\nMohammed Jerusalem<\/td>\nDestiny Udogie<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kevin Danso<\/th>\nDejan Kulusevski<\/td>\nSouza<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rodrigo Bentancur<\/th>\nXavi Simons<\/td>\nAshley Phillips<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Micky van de Ven<\/th>\n\nWilliam Vicar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jan Paul van Hecke<\/th>\n\nBrandon Austin<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pape Matar Sarr<\/th>\n\n<\/tr>\n
Christian Romero<\/th>\n\n<\/tr>\n
Djed Spence<\/th>\n\n<\/tr>\n
Pedro Porro<\/th>\n\n<\/tr>\n
Lucas Bergvall<\/th>\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Up next for Tottenham is their trip to New Zealand and Australia, where they have games against Auckland FC, Sydney FC and Chelsea.<\/p>\n