Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld is out of Thursday’s Europa League meeting with Bulgarian side Ludogorets.
But the Belgium international’s adductor injury suffered against Manchester City on Saturday is not as bad as first feared.
Manager Jose Mourinho said: “He has a muscular injury but not as big as we initially thought.
“He will have time to be out, but not like a month which was immediately what we thought. I would say between two and four weeks.
“It’s bad news, he was playing his best football. He’s an important player that we’ll miss.”
There had been doubts over the match taking place with reports in Bulgaria suggesting some Ludogorets players had tested positive for coronavirus.
But Mourinho said: “According to my information, that’s not true. The problems they had were immediately after the game we played there (3-1 win on November 5). They have had one more game after that, which they won, then the international break.
“Of the team that comes (on Thursday), I believe only two players who played against us are not playing. Apart from that, the other nine are in the list and ready to play.
“I don’t understand the news, there is a big contradiction between the news and the information we have.”
