Why Ange Postecoglou doesn’t think Tottenham’s exhibition match against fellow Premier League side Newcastle at the MCG on May 22 is a mistake

Ange Postecoglou has labelled Tottenham’s post-season friendly in Melbourne a ‘unique opportunity’ – but admits it’s unlikely to become a regular occurrence.

Spurs announced earlier this month they will visit Australia three days after the Premier League season concludes to take on Premier League rivals Newcastle in an exhibition fixture.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground clash on May 22 has been roundly criticised due to player welfare concerns and for a lack of regard for the environment, a matter of weeks after Green Football Weekend.

Postecoglou defended the merits of the post-season friendly, which will see the 58-year-old return to his home city.

‘We leave straight after the last game [at Sheffield United] and we’ll be taking everyone who’s fit,’ Postecoglou revealed.

It comes as Spurs are due to play fellow Premier League side Newcastle at the MCG just three days after their competition in England finishes (pictured, star midfielder James Maddison)

‘We thought that with our season being so disrupted and not a lot of games, this was a unique opportunity for us.

‘I wouldn’t see this as something that would happen on a regular basis unless we felt the benefits would outweigh the costs.

‘On this occasion when we balanced everything up, we felt it was a good opportunity to take the club to the other side of the world and help us continue to grow the football club.’

England boss Gareth Southgate was recently asked about the friendly, which will involve Euro 2024 hopefuls Kieran Trippier, Anthony Gordon and James Maddison, and predicted post-season fixtures will happen more often.

Southgate expressed his hope none of his players would suffer injuries.

But Postecoglou insisted: ‘I’m sure Gareth will be a club coach one day and he’ll get a different perspective, as he has been in the past.

‘I was [once] a national team manager [with the Socceroos]. 

England boss Gareth Southgate recently stated he hopes home grown players from both EPL clubs don’t get injured in Australia ahead of Euro 2024 in June

‘I used to sweat over it at the weekend when the players were playing whether that was a normal game, a friendly game, whatever game it is.

‘The flip side of that is there were quite a few club coaches on edge with national team duty this week so it’s the world we live in.

‘There has to be a balance. We’ve thought it through as a football club and it’s fair to say if we’d been in Europe and had a really big season, we probably would have made a different decision.

‘We weighed everything up and felt like there was a real benefit to playing this game.’