Tottenham are still battling a lengthy injury list to compound the absence of captain Heung-min Son.
The Spurs skipper will miss out on club duty for the next several weeks as he leads South Korea at the delayed Asian Cup that starts in Qatar this week, with Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr - who has shaken off a hamstring problem - also now away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Tottenham laboured somewhat without their attacking talisman in the FA Cup on Friday night, but eventually had Pedro Porro's excellent strike to thank for seeing off fellow Premier League side Burnley at home in the third round.
That made it successive victories for Ange Postecoglou after the 3-1 triumph over Bournemouth on New Year's Eve, with Spurs now focused on potentially leapfrogging Arsenal into the top four and compounding the current misery of their north London rivals when they travel to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Here is all the latest Tottenham injury news and potential return dates, with Micky van de Ven and Ryan Sessegnon back in action as Spurs push to complete early January transfers for former Chelsea striker Timo Werner and Genoa defender Radu Dragusin.
Ben Davies
The versatile Welsh international has done an admirable job of late filling in at centre-back to cover the absences of first-choice pair Cristian Romero and Van de Ven.
He did so again alongside fellow full-back Emerson Royal against Burnley with Romero still out and the returning Van de Ven an unused substitute, but it subsequently emerged that Davies had suffered a hamstring injury.
“Unfortunately, it looks like Ben’s done his hamstring tonight, which is another blow for us because those two (Davies and Emerson Royal) have been real warriors for us in the last few weeks," Postecoglou said.
It sounds like Davies could be set for a spell on the sidelines.
Potential return date: Unknown
Giovani Lo Celso
Lo Celso also started against Burnley, but was replaced by Bryan Gil just shy of the hour mark in the third round tie.
Postecoglou expressed hope after the game that the Argentine may just be suffering from muscle tightness.
"Gio Lo Celso has a bit of tightness, but hoping it is nothing serious," he said.
If it is just tightness, then Lo Celso would presumably be in contention for the weekend as normal.
Potential return date: Unknown, possibly vs Manchester United on Sunday, January 14
James Maddison
Maddison has yet to return to group training with Tottenham having been out since suffering a hamstring injury during Tottenham's chaotic 4-1 home defeat by Chelsea on November 6.
"He’s not training with us yet mate and I’ve said before until they start training with us, it is hard for me to put a timeline on it," Postecoglou said before the visit of Burnley in the FA Cup.
"He’s running with the sports science crew but not with us and not likely to be with us in the next couple of weeks I don’t think."
Potential return date: Unknown
Cristian Romero
Romero was substituted at half-time of Tottenham's 2-1 win over Everton just before Christmas with a hamstring strain that was expected to keep him sidelined for four to five weeks.
Asked before the Burnley game if Romero's current situation was similar to Maddison's, Postecoglou said: "Yeah, Cristian is still very early stages."
Potential return date: Unknown
Manor Solomon
The former Fulham winger has not played since the end of September due to a serious knee injury suffered in training that required surgery.
Official updates on Solomon's recovery and timeframe to return have been few and far between of late, but there were some reports last week suggesting that he could be close to returning. We'll see if that turns into a reality over the coming games.
Potential return date: Unknown, possibly soon
Alejo Veliz
The young Argentine striker suffered a knee injury against Bournemouth that does not require surgery but it set to keep him out for the next couple of months.
"Alejo suffered a fairly significant injury," Postecoglou said last week. "He had scans after the game and it'll probably keep him out for a couple of months.
"He won't need surgery but he's suffered ligament damage. Disappointed for him because he's worked hard to get an opportunity in the last couple of weeks and has been growing into it so really disappointed for him."
Potential return date: March 2024
Eric Dier
Dier was not involved at all against Burnley due to a knock, with Postecoglou reacting angrily to questions if he was legitimately hurt amid ongoing talks over a potential January move to reunite with Harry Kane at Bayern Munich.
“He's injured and pulled up sore in training and couldn't take part. [The transfer rumour] is a separate issue, but don't question my integrity. When I say he’s injured, he's injured. Ask him, but he was injured. It’s got nothing to do with anything else," Postecoglou said in his post-match press conference.
“I’ve got no idea [about the rumours], but when you ask me whether he’s injured, he’s injured. I didn’t make that up. If he wasn’t injured, I’d say he wasn’t selected. It’s easy for me to say.
“In terms of anything else that’s happening, not on my radar. If there is something, I’m sure you’ll hear of it, but it’s fair to say in the last 24 hours, I’ve been focusing on the game and the guys who are available.”
Potential return date: Unknown
Ivan Perisic
Perisic suffered an ACL injury in training back in September and needed surgery that was expected to rule him out for the rest of the season.
Postecoglou confirmed before Burnley that the Croatian was unlikely to play for Spurs again this term, meaning he has likely now played his final game for the club with his contract due to expire in the summer.
"No, he's working hard to be fair to Ivan. He's obviously got some national team commitments he wants to get back to as soon as possible," Postecoglou said.
"Again, he's been a significant loss for us. I thought this year he was going to be a really significant contributor because of his experience and we saw that in the first few games because of the way he impacted games.
"But yeah, he won't ... he's unlikely to play for us again."
