Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham's injury crisis is the worst he has faced as manager after confirming that Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven will face fresh spells on the sidelines after picking up muscle injuries in Sunday's 4-3 defeat to Chelsea.
Centre-halves Romero and van de Ven returned to the line-up against the Blues but the former lasted just 14 minutes before being forced off with a quad injury, while the Dutchman pulled up late in the match with a fresh hamstring complaint.
Ben Davies is also sidelined with a hamstring injury, leaving Postecoglou with just one fit senior centre-half in Radu Dragusin, who is expected to be partnered by teenager Archie Gray in Thursday's Europa League tie against Rangers in Glasgow.
Guglielmo Vicario (foot), Wilson Odobert, Richarlison (both hamstring) and Mikey Moore (illness) are also sidelined, while Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon have not been included in the Europa League squad.
Postecoglou will have Rodrigo Bentancur, who is currently serving a seven-match domestic suspension, available at Ibrox.
Asked if this is the worst injury pile up of his career, Postecoglou said: "Yeah, yeah by a fair stretch.
"I never think it's just bad luck," he added. "Some of it is. I've never lost a goalkeeper for this period of time.
"But some of it is recurring, particularly this year in terms of guys coming back and re-injuring. It's something we're looking at. We're always trying to explore whether we can do things better. Last year was different to this year. Last year it hit us across the board.
"This year it's more guys that are coming back who are affected. Knock on wood, we've got a core group who are playing a lot and are getting through it ok. But it is something we are trying to address."
Romero returned to the line-up after nearly a month out with a toe injury on Sunday, while van de Ven made his first appearance in over five weeks.
Postecoglou revealed afterwards that he had planned to play van de Ven for around an hour but had to change his plans following Romero's injury, with the Netherlands international leaving the field on 79 minutes.
Postecoglou was reluctant to put on a timeframe on the possible returns of Romero and van de Ven but Argentine media have claimed the former is set to be sidelined for six weeks, while van de Ven is thought to be facing up to three weeks out.
"We’re still getting some clarity around their prognosis, but both have picked up injuries that will keep them out again," Postecoglou said.
"That’s disappointing for us because we’re thin on numbers but we’ve had to deal with that for quite a while now. Everyone else from the weekend got through OK. Bentancur is obviously available so at least we get him back.
"At the moment we’re still getting more information on both the guys and I wouldn’t put any timeline on it yet.
"[van de Ven's hamstring injury is] the same side. Whether it's the same one, we've just got to get clarity on whether it's exactly the same spot or a new spot.
"It’s challenging. We’ve also got Ben Davies out who played a big part while the other two have been out. It’s no secret we’re thin on numbers both squad wise and position wise. But it is what is, we can’t change that, we’ve got some big games coming up starting tomorrow.
"We’ll have to deal with what we’ve got. I’m still confident we’ll be able to get the job done with players at our disposal."
While Gray and Dragusin are expected to start in the heart of defence on Thursday, Postecoglou said he may have to "get creative" at the back during a run of seven games in 24 days, starting in Scotland.
"I think Archie's probably the one for us at the moment that we need to try and get to fill in there," the Spurs head coach said. "He's done right back, left back for us. Had to play at centre-back a little bit this year, he did during the pre-season. With him and Radu, they're the two main sort of defenders. We've still got five or six games to navigate, so we may have to get creative at at some point and deal with it in a different way."
