Capital One Capoue: Midfield destroyer set to return after injury lay-off

The London Evening Standard are reporting that Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Etienne Capoue could be fit to feature against Hull City tonight in the Capital One Cup.

Capoue, a summer signing from Toulouse, has been sidelined since picking up an injury in the North London derby at the beginning of September. Before his injury, the midfielder has impressed in the game against Swansea City, completing 5 of his 6 tackles and providing cover for the rampaging Paulinho.

The injury was a blow to Andre Villas-Boas’ plans as he looked to get the team back in the Champions League and will be delighted to see the midfield maestro back on the training ground. Capoue will be looking to the game as a chance to impress after watching the midfield pairing of Sandro and Paulinho excel in his absence.

The game is a rerun of Saturday’s Premier League fixture, but Villas-Boas will be hoping this game goes a little better than that despite picking up all 3 points with a 1-0 victory. The former Chelsea manager criticised the fans for getting on the team’s back about the result, and Kyle Walker has attempted to mend the relationship between the fans and the meticulous manager.

“It’s difficult,” he said. “People want end-to-end games because they’ve paid good money to watch exciting football but sometimes, it’s not like that. Teams will come and put seven men behind the ball. We do it in training, where we play five against 10, and they never score. We got the win against Hull, which is all that matters. The style of football we are playing now is a little different from a couple of years ago.

“It’s about attacking. There is pace and power throughout the squad and it’s exciting. We need to create a few more clear chances for players like Roberto Soldado andJermain Defoe to get on the end of, but if we keep winning 1-0, then I will take that.”

Tonight could also see the return of the injury-troubled Younes Kaboul, with Defoe also set to get a place in the starting line-up as Villas-Boas tries to satisfy the fans with a goal-fest.

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Etienne Capoue completed 76% (64 out of 84) of his tackles in Ligue 1 last season and looked set to continue his tough tackling approach in England before his injury.

Etienne Capoue Duels Won (Last Season)