Roberto De Zerbi has revealed why Destiny Udogie was absent from Tottenham’s matchday squad against Coventry City.

A severely depleted Spurs side registered their first win of the Premier League season at the seventh time of asking as they emerged with a 3-1 victory over the newly promoted side.

The game was far from easy, and it looked like it could be another frustrating evening at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when Jack Rudoni’s 49th-minute strike cancelled out James Maddison’s worldie in the first half.

However, a first goal in a Spurs shirt for Omar Marmoush and a stoppage-time goal by substitute Ben Davies ensured that the points were in the bag for De Zerbi’s side.

Roberto De Zerbi says Tottenham did not want to risk Destiny Udogie

While it was known in the lead-up to the game that Lucas Bergvall and Savio had picked up injuries, supporters were surprised to see Andy Robertson getting the nod to start over Udogie, who had impressed in the 1-1 draw against Man Utd.

In fact, the Italy international was not even on the bench, which confirmed that he had suffered an injury.

De Zerbi has now shared that Udogie felt a problem in his knee after the game at Old Trafford, but he also added that Tottenham did not want to ‘take a risk’, which suggests that it is not a serious issue.

The 46-year-old told Tottenham’s official website: “Destiny Udogie played 70 minutes (against Manchester United) and suffered a problem of (the) knee, and we didn’t take a risk alongside the medical staff.”

Dejan Kulusevski makes his long-awaited Spurs comeback

On the injury front, the big news from Monday was the return of Dejan Kulusevski, who made his first appearance in a year and a half.

The moment we’ve all been waiting for 🥹 Welcome back, Deki 🤍 https://t.co/PkCsAUlhCD

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 20, 2026

The Swede came on as an 87th-minute substitute for one of the biggest cheers of the night from the home crowd. He got around 10 minutes under his belt, producing a couple of promising moments.

The 26-year-old’s return was certainly a welcome sight to the Spurs fans and was the icing on the cake for De Zerbi, with his attacking options suddenly looking much more formidable.