After a triumphant start to life in the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou is facing his first major setback.
Having been unbeaten in their first 10 games, earlier this week Spurs fell 4-1 to Chelsea, with Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie both sent off in an action-packed encounter.
As if losing both defenders to suspensions wasn’t bad enough, Postecoglou also had to substitute James Maddison and Micky van de Ven in the first-half through injury.
Now, ahead of Spurs' trip Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, the manager revealed the timelines for both players’ returns.
"It’s fair to say a fair bit happened after Monday," Postecoglou said. "Micky obviously with that hamstring injury, we knew it was fairly significant, probably a couple of months for him looking into the New Year.
"[Maddison] came off with an ankle injury and the next day wasn't great, so we sent him for a scan. Again probably into the New Year for him."
Maddison had been named in Gareth Southgate's 25-man England squad for games with Malta and North Macedonia but will now continue his rehabilitation at Spurs' training centre.
Monday night's sufferers aren’t the only absentees for the north Londoners however, with Richarlison unavailable for the coming month too after a groin operation.
Their full list reads: James Maddison (ankle injury until 2024), Richarlison (groin operation until December), Manor Solomon (knee injury until December), Cristian Romero (suspended until December 7th ), Destiny Udogie (suspended until November 26th ), Ivan Perisic (knee injury until at least January), Micky van de Ven (hamstring injury until 2024), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring injury) and Alfie Whiteman (ankle injury).
Ben Davies has recently returned, providing Postecoglou with much-needed defensive cover in Romero’s absence and the Welshman was handed a start against Wolves on Saturday.
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