Tottenham defender Pedro Porro has withdrawn from international duty with Spain due to injury.
The World Cup-winning right-back was hurt during the early stages of Spurs’ 3-2 home defeat by Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday.
Porro went down with an apparent hamstring injury in the lunchtime kick-off and received treatment on the pitch before being replaced in the 19th minute by Archie Gray.
He looked despondent and frustrated as he hit the ground in frustration before limping off with the help of Tottenham’s medical staff.
Porro was making only his third start of the season against Villa, having had an extended break following Spain’s World Cup success in North America earlier this summer.
After missing the opening day defeat by Brentford, he made his first appearance of the campaign off the bench in the 5-1 Carabao Cup rout of Charlton on August 26 - which remains Spurs’ only victory this term to date in any competition - before starting in back-to-back Premier League meetings with Newcastle and Nottingham Forest.
However, Porro then sat out the goalless draw with Everton and Tuesday’s Carabao Cup fourth-round defeat at Liverpool with what head coach Roberto De Zerbi described as a “small muscular problem”.
Providing a new update on Porro after his latest injury setback on Saturday, De Zerbi said: “Listen, Pedro, I said after the World Cup, I said the management of Pedro should be different, because after the World Cup, many games.
“I don't know what the problem is. It's a hamstring, I think. Hopefully, it's not a big problem.”
However, the issue is bad enough to have forced Porro to withdraw from Spain duty ahead of an extended three-week international window.
The 27-year-old had been included in Luis de la Fuente’s 26-man squad - his first since that World Cup triumph - for a four-game Nations League slate that begins with a trip to face England at Wembley next weekend.
Spain also host Croatia in Seville and the Czech Republic in Oviedo in Group A3, before playing Croatia again in Split. They have not called up a replacement for Porro.
Tottenham remained without the likes of Mykhailo Mudryk, Dejan Kulusevski, Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert against Villa, though De Zerbi confirmed that Mateus Fernandes’ half-time withdrawal was not injury-related.
He also insisted that Mathys Tel’s surprise absence from the matchday squad was a “technical decision” rather than being due to any injury.
Though Tottenham finally scored their first goals of the Premier League season on Saturday, they remain winless and now sit in the relegation zone despite a lavish summer transfer spend in excess of £300million.
They return to action after the international break with a trip to face Manchester United on October 10, before meetings with Coventry, Chelsea and Crystal Palace.
