Roberto De Zerbi praised the "experience, personality and calm" James Maddison has brought to the Tottenham dressing room, while suggesting the midfielder could be fit to face Aston Villa on Sunday.

Relegation from the Premier League is a real possibility for Tottenham, who are two points from safety with four matches remaining.

The first of them sees them travel to Villa Park to take on Unai Emery's Champions League-chasing side, though they could do so while boosted by the inclusion of Maddison.

An unused substitute in Spurs' last two games, Maddison has not played for the best part of a year since suffering a medial collateral ligament injury during their Europa League semi-final win over Bodo/Glimt.

Maddison then suffered a further setback when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during pre-season, but with Xavi Simons joining Tottenham's lengthy injury list, the England midfielder could be thrown into the mix at Villa Park.

"[He brings] experience, personality, calm [to the dressing room," De Zerbi said. "If you have a lot of experience, you are calmer.

MD-1

@BetMGMUK pic.twitter.com/kn9PBuTLE1

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) May 2, 2026

"You can consider the timing: when you have to speak, when you have to say something or not.

"And I want him to stay inside even if he doesn't play, because when he is ready to play, I want him 100% inside the plan of the team.

"I don't know [if he plays at Villa], I would like to play with him because he's a special player. He's a different player.

"We have to consider the physical condition, a lot of things, but I think he can be important in the next three games."

De Zerbi also remained adamant Spurs could win the remainder of their matches to secure their top-flight status, despite last week's victory at Wolves being their first of the calendar year.

"Yes, it's possible because we have good players," he added.