Injury-hit Tottenham face losing centre-back Cristian Romero for up to five weeks with a hamstring strain, says manager Ange Postecoglou.
The 25-year-old Argentine sustained the injury in Saturday’s 2-1 triumph against Everton.
Defenders Micky van de Ven and Ryan Sessegnon are sidelined due to injuries, and full-back Destiny Udogie is suspended for Thursday’s game against Brighton.
“[It’s] disappointing to lose [Romero], for sure,” said Postecoglou.
“He had a scan the other day and has got a hamstring strain. We are looking at probably four or five weeks for him.”
Romero, a World Cup champion, faced a suspension of three matches in November and December following his red card in Tottenham’s 4-1 home loss to Chelsea.
During his absence, the team earned only one point and suffered a defeat to West Ham upon his return. However, they have now secured victories in their last three matches.
Currently, Spurs hold the fourth position in the Premier League, trailing leaders Liverpool by six points, with the latter having played an additional game.
“We obviously missed him with the suspension and now we’ve just got him back and he steadied things up,” Postecoglou said.
“Now he will be missing again for quite a chunk of time.”
Dutch defender Van de Ven had established a promising partnership with Romero before sustaining a hamstring injury against Chelsea in November.
Postecoglou mentions that Van de Ven is “edging closer” to resuming first-team training but anticipates that the 22-year-old center-back won’t be fully prepared until the Premier League match against Manchester United on January 14.
“He is at the tail end of it, for sure,” added Postecoglou. “At some point, middle of January, he could be available, but how we use him after such a long absence will be depending on where he is at.”