The mood was sombre in north London heading into the previous international break, and Ange Postecoglou will be keen to avoid a repeat this month when Tottenham Hotspur face Ipswich Town on Sunday .

Spurs’ collapse at Brighton in October ensured supporters spent two weeks of international football watching with a clenched fist. However, the Lilywhites have enjoyed a positive run since with Postecoglou enjoying his best week in the job when his side downed Manchester City and Aston Villa in the space of a few days.

They head into Sunday’s home game off the back of a 3-2 defeat at Galatasaray which could’ve been a whole lot worse. Very few of that rotated XI would’ve left an impression on the manager, who’ll revert to type on the team selection front when Ipswich come to town.

Here’s how Tottenham could line up.

GK: Guglielmo Vicario – The Italian might not be perfect, but he’s 2002 Gianluigi Buffon compared to Fraser Forster. Spurs can ill-afford a Vicario absence.

RB: Pedro Porro – It was a chastening evening for Porro in Istanbul, but he’s a lively character who’ll respond in a hurry. His place in the team is not up for debate.

CB: Cristian Romero – Romero is a doubt for Sunday’s game due to the foot injury he picked up last weekend, but he has been included in the Argentina squad for their upcoming fixtures and Postecoglou has said he’s hopeful his vice-captain will be available against Ipswich.

CB: Radu Dragusin – If Thursday was chastening for Porro, it was Drasgusin’s worst nightmare. With Micky van de Ven out, the Romanian initially mitigated his absence well but his performance was so bad in midweek that some supporters may prefer Ben Davies to partner Romero.

LB: Destiny Udogie – The Italian international finally earned some respite in the week, and for perhaps the first time this season, Udogie will head into a game fresh.

CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – Bentancur is currently winning the holding-midfield tug of war with Yves Bissouma, who didn’t disgrace himself against Gala. However, the Uruguayan midfielder has been in excellent form, and his place on the bench last time out suggests he’ll start here.

CM: Pape Matar Sarr – The unrelenting midfielder produced one of his best performances in a Spurs shirt last weekend against Aston Villa and is a shoo-in to start on Sunday with James Maddison struggling in midweek. Sarr’s the key stabiliser in the middle of the park.

CM: Dejan Kulusevski – Spurs’ standout performer of the season so far has snatched chief creator duties away from Maddison and has emerged as an undroppable figure within Ange’s framework.

RW: Brennan Johnson – The Welshman has played a lot of football this term due to Spurs’ injuries in wide areas, and he’ll likely have to start again on Sunday having recorded an assist in Istanbul. Johnson ignited his side’s comeback win last weekend with a goal from close range.

ST: Dominic Solanke – Solanke’s impact in N17 has been immediate without scoring a hatful of goals, but he enters Sunday’s game having bagged three in his previous two outings.

LW: Son Heung-min – Postecoglou is carefully managing his captain, who’s battled a few niggles over the past month. The South Korean has not been at his best this term, but he consistently flashes moments of sheer brilliance.

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