Nuno Espirito Santo’s Tottenham side return to action on Sunday with a trip to newly taken over Newcastle United.
A two-week hiatus from the Premier League comes to an end following the conclusion of the international break.
Several Spurs players were on international duty, and there is some bad news for Espirito Santo to deal with, as a number of his south American contingent are major doubts for Sunday’s clash.
And to make matters worse, their weekend opponents are on a massive high after Mike Ashley finally agreed to sell the club following 14 years at St James’ Park.
Thus, Tottenham’s Portuguese boss will be wanting to pick the best possible team available to him, and with that in mind, football.london takes a look at the current injury state of his squad.
Steven Bergwijn
Bergwijn has taken his time to recover, having sustained an injury during the last round of international fixtures.
The Netherlands international’s last outing for Tottenham was their European clash with French team Rennes, where he picked up a foot problem.
What Espirito Santo has said: “I think I explained the injury he has is very painful so he has to settle down,” the Tottenham boss said prior to the North London Derby. “He has not totally stopped. He is doing some fitness, some upper body. For now, he is not available.”
Expected return date: Unknown.
Ryan Sessegnon
Sessegnon has also been missing for a few weeks after the winger picked up an injury while on international duty with England’s under-21 team.
What Espirito Santo has said: The 21-year-old will be hoping to return to action sooner rather than later, but Espirito Santo was unable to tell the media when he would be back when speaking about him earlier in the month.
He said: “We don’t know [when he will return]. They are improving, day by day.”
Expected return date: Unknown.
Ben Davies
Davies withdrew from the Wales squad due to illness last week, however he was pictured training with the first team on Thursday.
What has been said: “Ben Davies and David Brooks have had to withdraw from the squad due to illness. Brysiwch wella hogia! (get well soon),” read a tweet on the official Wales Twitter account.
Expected return date: Newcastle (A).
Matt Doherty
The former Wolves man had to be withdrawn at half-time during the Republic of Ireland’s 4-0 thumping of Qatar. He was replaced by Cyrus Christie.
Expected return date: Unknown.
Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso, Davinson Sanchez and Emerson Royal
Whilst not injured, the South American contingent may all struggle to be available for Sunday.
Romero and Lo Celso played Peru in the early hours of Friday morning (BST) and still need time to fly back to north London.
Meanwhile, Royal is in a similar situation as his native Brazil take on Uruguay just one hour later. Colombia played Ecuador on Thursday night, but Sanchez faces the exact same problem.
Expected return date(s): Next week.