Tottenham’s Giovani Lo Celso says he is "100 per cent in good physical condition" after being left out of the Spurs squad for Sunday’s derby at Chelsea.
Lo Celso and fellow midfielders Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele were not named in Antonio Conte’s 20-man squad at Stamford Bridge but are all believed to be fit.
Shortly after the line-up was announced, Lo Celso took to Instagram to confirm he was not injured.
"Regarding the questions I received I would like to clear out that I am 100 per cent in good physical condition," wrote the Argentina international.
"I have no problem and I feel very well. I wish the best to my team in the derby today."
The game is Spurs’ last before the January transfer window closes, and Dele and Ndombele are known to be free to leave the club before the deadline.
Conte’s team selection is sure to raise questions about Lo Celso’s future too.
The Italian dropped the trio despite admitting Spurs were facing "a bit of an emergency", with Lucas Moura, Emerson Royal and Oliver Skipp not fit enough to start after suffering knocks in the dramatic win at Leicester on Wednesday.
Conte appeared to switch to a 4-4-2 system, with Matt Doherty, Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier and Wednesday’s match-winner Steven Bergwijn all coming in.
"We have made a formation for the players available," Conte said.
"We are faced with a couple of injuries for the game with Leicester and after the game with Leicester Moura and Skipp picked up problems, we have tried to recover them for the bench and their mentality was good. Also Emerson is not in 100 per cent physical condition.
"It was important for us for Steven to score but especially to stay well in a good physical condition and in this way he can help us. For Eric was out but now he is ready to come back and we need him because today we are in a bit of an emergency. To have these players were available was good for us."
