Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen could make his return from a two-month injury lay-off in Saturday's clash with Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino has said.
The Belgium international last played on September 29 in Spurs' 2-0 win away to Huddersfield Town, but he had to be withdrawn at half-time due to a hamstring problem.
That injury has kept him out ever since, but he returned to training during the international break with Spurs readying themselves for a difficult few weeks.
Chelsea visit Wembley on Saturday, and that match is followed by a home game against Inter in the Champions League four days later before a derby clash with Arsenal on December 2.
Pochettino is wary of risking such an important player, but he refused to rule him out of the meeting with Maurizio Sarri's men.
"It is very good news, he has been training with the group," Pochettino told reporters at his pre-match news conference. "We have to wait until tomorrow [Friday] to see whether he can be involved.
"Jan is such an important player for us. We have a very busy period ahead so it's important to recover our players."
Spurs head into Saturday's game fourth in the Premier League, just one point behind Chelsea, who are one place above them.
