Mauricio Pochettino has revealed Toby Alderweireld’s hamstring injury is worse than first thought and the Tottenham defender could be out until after Christmas.
Initial scans projected the Belgium international would be sidelined for six weeks after suffering the injury in Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Real Madrid on November 1.
The Belgium international missed the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace before the international break and Pochettino has since revealed he may have already played his last game this year.
“Toby is out. We need to assess him,” Sky Sports quote Pochettino as saying at his pre-match news conference ahead of Saturday’s North London Derby.
“We expect he will be out for longer than we did previously. Maybe [Alderweireld will be back] after Christmas. That is the expectation.
“The injury is in his hamstring. He feels disappointed and a little bit sad but in the same way, he is focused now on trying to recover as soon as possible.
“He is working hard, he is in the first stages of his rehab. Always, with this type of injury, we have t be cautious. We need to wait.”
Failure to play again this year would mean Alderweireld would miss at least 13 competitive matches, including games against Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and West Ham.
Whereas this may have been a problem last season, the arrival of Davinson Sanchez over the summer should mean Tottenham can continue to challenge for the title despite Alderweireld’s absence.
In the last three Premier League campaigns, Alderweireld has completed at least 176 more accurate long balls than any other outfield player (541).
