Tottenham Team News: Poch Confirms Injury Blow But Key Man Returns To Training

Tottenham will look to close in on the top four with a win when they take on Brighton at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday night.

Ahead of the game, Mauricio Pochettino has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference this morning and he’s offered reporters a team news and injury update.

The Spurs boss has confirmed a major injury blow with the news that Toby Alderweireld has been ruled out of action until February with an on-going hamstring problem.

Alderweireld picked up the injury during the Champions League win over Real Madrid last month and was initially expected to be back around Christmas time.

However, reports emerged earlier today claiming the defender had suffered a setback after scans showed further damage and Pochettino has now confirmed Alderweireld won’t play again until February.

The news will come as a huge blow to Tottenham as Alderweireld is a vital player for the north Londoners and it leaves Pochettino short of options at the back – especially with Davinson Sanchez currently serving a three-game suspension.

However, there is more positive news on Victor Wanyama as the midfielder is on the road to recovery from a serious knee injury after returning to light training yesterday.

Wanyama hasn’t featured since suffering the injury back in August and it’s taken far longer than expected to heal but the Kenyan international will now step-up his recovery over the coming weeks.

Pochettino also revealed that Erik Lamela could make his first start of the season tomorrow after overcoming a hip injury that kept him on the sidelines for over a year.

The Spurs boss told reporters:

Spurs injury news. Toby Alderweireld likely to be back in February. Wanyama took part in the warm-up yesterday with the squad as part of his rehab and will do more work with the team in the coming weeks.

— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) December 12, 2017

Poch on Alderweireld: "Of course we cannot change the reality of his injury, he cannot play until February. With him or without him we win and lose. Of course the manager wants everyone fit to play, all the players. You are always going to miss players, but it's collective."

— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) December 12, 2017

#thfc Pochettino says Erik Lamela has a chance of starting tomorrow: "“Maybe. I still haven’t decided. I am going to decide today for tomorrow. But yes, he has a chance maybe to play from the start against Brighton tomorrow.”

— Ben Pearce (@BenPearceSpurs) December 12, 2017