Toby Alderweireld injury setback as Mauricio Pochettino rules Tottenham star out until after Christmas

EPA
Tom Doyle16 November 2017

Mauricio Pochettino admits Toby Alderweireld's hamstring injury is worse than first feared, with the Tottenham defender set to be on the sidelines until after Christmas.

Alderweireld suffered a hamstring problem during Spurs' 3-1 Champions League win over Real Madrid on November 1, and was clearly frustrated as he departed the Wembley pitch.

Ahead of Saturday's north London derby against Arsenal at the Emirates, Pochettino confirmed to reporters at Thursday's pre-match press conference that the 28-year-old Belgium international is now facing a long spell on the sidelines - and will likely be out until the New Year.

Pochettino said of Alderweireld: "We expect longer than previously, when the problem happened. Maybe after Christmas is the expectation."

Alderweireld's absence should mean Eric Dier moves into defence against Arsenal, with Mousa Dembele pushing to return to the starting XI.

Alderweireld's latest seback means that the defender will miss League games against Arsenal (November 18), West Brom (Nov. 25), Leicester (Nov. 28), Watford (Dec. 2), Stoke (Dec. 9), Brighton (Dec. 13), Man City (Dec. 16), Burnley (Dec. 23) and Southampton (Dec. 26).

He will also miss Champions League ties against Borussia Dortmund (Nov. 21) and Apoel Nicosia (Dec. 6), with Spurs vying for top spot in Group H along with Real Madrid.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in