Jose Mourinho has sent a stirring message to Tottenham defender Ben Davies following the player’s withdrawal from Wales duty with injury.
The 58-cap left back had reported for duty with his country but has since pulled out with what has been described as a ‘significant’ injury.
As the official Tottenham Instagram account announced the news, manager Mourinho took the unusual step of publicly responding to praise Davies for his efforts for his club in recent matches.
He wrote: “When a player plays injured to help his team to recover from two bad defeats, this can hapen [sic]. A man, team player.” and added a ‘thumbs up’ emoji.
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The Welshman played half an hour as a substitute in the 2-0 victory over Aston Villa having also played the entire 120 minute duration of Spurs’ humiliating Europa League defeat to Dinamo Zagreb three days earlier.
Following the gruelling and ultimately disappointing trip to Croatian capital, Davies and Spurs bounced back with a much-needed win, in which the full placed replaced Sergio Reguilon in the second half.
Davies will miss his country’s World Cup qualifiers away in Belgium and at home to Czech Republic as well as the Friendly against Mexico sandwiched in between.
As well as Davies, Luton centre-back Tom Lockyer has also pulled out with a statement from the Wales FA confirming: “Ben Davies and Tom Lockyer have both withdrawn from the squad due to injury.”
(Image: Instagram)
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Davies picked up a calf problem during the win at Villa Park although it is unclear how long he is expected to be sidelined for.
“It’s not great news for us,” said caretaker boss Robert Page.
“It’s not ideal preparation with only two days before the game, but it is what it is and we’ve got to react to that now and pick a team who we think can win us the game.”