Tottenham star Heung Min-Son in South Korea squad, despite injury

Tottenham Hotspur captain Heung Min-Son has been named in the South Korea squad for World Cup qualifers against Jordan and Iraq, despite the hamstring issue he picked up in the win over Qarabag, which ruled him out of selection for the win against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

South Korea's manager, Hong Myung Bo has said that whilst the Spurs skipper is recovering well, Son and Spurs themselves do not believe he is fit to play right now. His availability for Spurs this week will be "monitored".

It will certainly be interesting to see how much of a part Son will have to play this week. Even if, by chance, he was 100% available for the Europa League trip to Hungary to play Ferencvaros, he should not travel. Ange will hopefully have learned from the game against Qarabag and will give a rest and night off for the oldest outfield player in the Spurs squad.

Tottenham star Heung Min-Son in South Korea squad, despite injury

The game against Brighton and Hove Albion is of course a different equation. No doubt a much harder game, and Son will have had three more days to have recovered by then - and without the mileage of traveling across Europe.

On the note of air miles - even if Hong Myung Bo chooses against playing Son against Jordan and Iraq in qualifying, should he join up with the squad, that is still avoidable traveling and jet lag for a player who already has a crazy amount of minutes and miles in his legs. You can appreciate how much South Korea means to Son, whilst also wanting his body carefully managed, particularly at this stage of his career in his 30s.

Fortunately, Spurs were able to navigate the game against Manchester United without Son, and should, in theory, be able to do so against Ferencvaros. The game against Brighton will be a tougher assignment than both of those games. That said, the high line they deployed in their defeat at the weekend is the sort of style that Son would absolutely thrive playing against. Let's hope he is 100% fit to play for that one.