Ange Postecoglou says Cristian Romero is in a “good place” following another scan on his persistent thigh injury and hopes to have the Argentine and Micky van de Ven back for the first leg of Tottenham’s Europa League last-16 tie against AZ Alkmaar next month.

Romero has been sidelined since pulling up 15 minutes into his return to action against Chelsea in a 4-3 defeat on December 8.

The Spurs vice-captain had another scan on the problem this week, with Postecoglou hopeful that both he and defensive partner van de Ven could be available for first leg of their knockout tie in the Netherlands on March 6.

Asked if Romero had undergone the scan, Postecoglou said: “He’s had that. It’s going well, he’s in a good place.

“With him and Micky, it’s just about picking our moment now. I’m really keen to get them back and have them back for the rest of the year.

They’ve had good weeks of training with us so when they do come back in they’re in a good place, so they’re going well

“We’ve got a really good period coming up where I think we can manage that, where they’re back, they’ve had good weeks of training with us so when they do come back in they’re in a good place, so they’re going well.”

Van de Ven has also been out since suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury against Chelsea, and has been seeing specialists outside the club about the mechanics of his running style to help prevent future problems in the area.

Postecoglou remains without the pair, as well as forwards Dominic Solanke (knee) and Richarlison (calf), while Radu Dragusin is out for the season after cruciate ligament surgery.

Five players returned to the squad after injury for last weekend’s 1-0 win over Manchester United, and the head coach sees the upcoming games against Ipswich and Manchester City as an opportunity to build up the fitness of his returnees.

“No new concerns from last week, everyone got through OK,” Postecoglou added ahead of Saturday’s visit to Portman Road.

“The three guys who picked up a knock last week are good. Having a full week to prepare and recover is good.

“The other guys are ticking along well. We’ve got two games in quick succession in the league, a good opportunity for us to get some match minutes into the guys who’ve been out for a while.

“We saw Brennan, Wilson, Vic, Madders come back last week, Destiny as well, we need to get them some match minutes and these two games are a good opportunity to do that.

“Then we’ve got a week before the first Europa game, we’ve got a weekend off and again that’s about the time we’re hoping guys like Romero and Micky, in particular, should be around that mark.

“Richy and Dom not too far behind to be honest. And again, with that, we’ve got two days before the international break, so we’re mapping it out and finding a way to have as fit and healthy a squad as we have all year for the run-in.”