A very long hall runner unrolled across a night-time stadium forecourt toward the entrance, with a tiny figure in a white shirt seen from behind at the far end.

Injury LatestThe High Road Herald

Kulusevski Could Return Against Coventry And Supporter Unrolls Hall Runner Outside Stadium For Monday Night

Clive Ottaway · Injury Correspondent15 October · Reading time: one pint

The Evening Standard's team news briefing says Dejan Kulusevski could be in a Tottenham matchday squad for the first time in nearly 18 months when Coventry visit on Monday, and the runner measures four metres.

A Tottenham man has unrolled a hall runner across the forecourt of the stadium on a quiet non-match day, after reading that Dejan Kulusevski could be included in a matchday squad for the first time in nearly 18 months.

The Evening Standard's team news briefing, published ahead of Monday's visit of Coventry, states that the Swedish playmaker has been out since May 2025 with a kneecap injury that required two surgeries and more than 500 days on the sidelines. The man has read the word "could" and, the Herald understands, moved on from it.

The runner was bought for a hallway. It has been joined end to end with a second, borrowed from a neighbour, and now reaches approximately as far as the second bin.

It says edging closer. You don't edge closer to a thing and then not turn up. I've measured.

The briefing notes that Kulusevski travelled to Marbella this week and was in the travelling squad for the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, though not in the matchday squad. The man has taken this as confirmation of an arrival and asked a passing steward which gate. The steward said all gates are shut until Monday. The man said that was exactly what they would say.

The briefing also describes the Coventry game as a good opportunity to reintegrate Kulusevski and lift morale while Spurs search for a first Premier League win of the season. The man has interpreted reintegrate as a welcome, and has brought a flask.

The predicted 4-2-3-1 in the same article does not name Kulusevski. The man has described the omission as a bluff, and has taken Monday night off work, with Tuesday in reserve.

The runner is still four metres.

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A tiny anonymous footballer in a white shirt stands at the base of a giant spiral staircase while a ring of rounded, blank-faced shapes leans in to look.

Paper TalkThe High Road Herald

Mudryk Spotted At Chelsea During Injury Layoff, So Group Chat Convenes And Asks About The Stairs

Philippa Crane · Media Editor15 October · Reading time: one pint

The Evening Standard reports that Tottenham loanee Mykhailo Mudryk watched Shakhtar beat AEK Athens 3-1 in the Champions League at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, and the chat has seven members.

A Tottenham group chat of seven members met on the upper deck of a northbound bus on Thursday morning to establish a formal position on the news that Mykhailo Mudryk was seen at Stamford Bridge.

The Evening Standard reported that the Tottenham loanee attended Shakhtar Donetsk's 3-1 Champions League win over AEK Athens on Wednesday night, one of 29,144 people in the ground. Andriy Shevchenko was also present.

The chat, which has monitored the Mudryk ankle since the start of September, called the item to order at Manor House. The chairman, who created the group in 2021 and has never relinquished the role, read the report aloud from his phone.

If he can get into Stamford Bridge he can get up these stairs. I'm only saying what I'm seeing.

The Herald understands the remark was received in silence, partly out of respect and partly because the bus was pulling away from a stop and nobody wished to test the point.

It was noted for the record that Mudryk has been out since the beginning of September with an ankle ligament injury suffered in training, days after his debut off the bench at Nottingham Forest. He will be ineligible to face Chelsea next Saturday even if fit.

A motion that the sighting was a sign was amended to a development, then to a thing, and was withdrawn at Stamford Hill after a member pointed out that he had once been seen at a bus stop himself.

The chat resolved to revisit the matter on Monday. The bus reached Tottenham Hale before the minutes could be approved.

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