Jermain Defoe leaves Gary Neville shocked as he reveals a former Tottenham supervisor would ‘sit in on scans’ when gamers had been injured

Gary Neville was left stunned after Jermain Defoe revealed a former Tottenham manager used to ‘sit in on scans’ when players were injured. 

Spurs have been hampered by injuries this season, with a number of of vital players missing months of action, leaving the north London side hamstrung for much of the campaign.

Ange Postecoglou‘s side returned to winning ways at home with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United thanks to James Maddison‘s first half strike. 

It was Maddison’s first appearance since recovering from a three-week lay-off following a calf problem. 

And afterwards, the Sky Sports panel discussed the relationship between the sports science department and first-team managers when injuries ramp up and the latter is under pressure for results. 

Gary Neville said speaking on Postecoglou: ‘ I have never ever seen a manager go against a doctor or medical advice when they say “they’re not quite ready. Ange, don’t play them today.”

Gary Neville was left stunned after Jermain Defoe made a revelation about an ex-Tottenham manager 

Defoe revealed Andre Villas-Boas (right) used to ‘sit in on scans’ when players were injured

Defoe is one of Tottenham’s best strikers in their history, netting 143 times in 363 games 

‘If he has gone against medical and doctor advice it would be quite unusual. Managers don’t tend to go against medical and doctor’s advice.’ 

Defoe then revealed: ‘Managers do put pressure. When Andre Villas-Boas was here, when players got injured, he would sit in on scans.’ 

Neville responded: ‘Honestly, I swear if a manager sits over you on a scan I think you would (have to) tell him to get out of here. The manager should not be in the medical room, watching over a player.’

Asked if he would have told Sir Alex Ferguson that, Neville answered: ‘He never would have come in the changing room. He never would have gone in the medical room ever. Never. He never came in our changing room once in training ground.  That was our space

‘And certainly he never would put pressure on the medical team. As much as he was controlling, he never did that. It’s ridiculous.’

Following the win over United, Postecoglou revealed he took off Kevin Danso, Rodrigo Bentancur and Son Heung-min as they all picked up knocks. 

‘Kevin [Danso], Rodri and Sonny all picked up knocks,’ Postecoglou confirmed. 

‘They should be fine but the beauty now is that we can allow them to rest and recover rather than throwing them straight back out there [three days later].’