Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has revealed that Destiny Udogie will be sidelined for around six weeks with the hamstring injury he suffered against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.
The Italy international was taken off early in the second half of that 2-2 draw with Vitor Pereira's side, just a couple of weeks on from suffering another scare in the 5-0 thrashing of Southampton.
Postecoglou confirmed at the time that Udogie had done more damage to his hamstring, and reports earlier this month claimed that the left-back could be sidelined for at least eight and potentially as many as 10 weeks.
The former Udinese man will not be spending that long in the infirmary, but speaking to the press before Saturday lunchtime's clash with Newcastle United, Postecoglou confirmed that he is likely to be out until the middle of February.
"Destiny, with his hamstring, looks around the six-week mark," Postecoglou told the media, as he prepares to cope without Udogie for at least 10 and potentially as many as 11 matches.
Which Spurs games will Udogie miss?
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A six-week layoff means that the defender should be back in contention around mid-February time, but he will miss a handful of key matches between now and then, starting with Saturday's visit of the Magpies.
Udogie is also expected to sit out both legs of Tottenham's EFL Cup semi-final clash with Liverpool, the first of which takes place on Tuesday before the return fixture at Anfield on February 6.
Another key game that the Italy international will miss is the imminent North London derby with Arsenal at the Emirates on January 15, three days after an FA Cup third-round showdown against Tamworth.
Tottenham's final two Europa League league phase matches against Hoffenheim (January 23) and Elfsborg (January 30) are also out of the question, as are top-flight games against Everton (January 19), Leicester City (January 26) and Brentford (February 2).
Postecoglou's side currently have no game scheduled for the weekend of February 8/9, which is reserved for FA Cup fourth-round fixtures, but Udogie might be able to return against Manchester United on February 16.
Failing that, the 22-year-old should almost certainly be in contention to face Ipswich Town on February 22, but Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon will have to hold the fort on that side for the time being.
Will any Tottenham players return against Newcastle?
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Postecoglou also revealed that none of his longer-term injury victims would be back on Saturday, depriving him of Ben Davies, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Guglielmo Vicario, Richarlison, Wilson Odobert and Mikey Moore.
Furthermore, Spurs have been dealing with a sickness bug in recent days too, but Postecoglou did not name the players who had caught the infection, adding: "None of the injured ones are back yet. We've had a bit of an illness bug with a few not training.
"At this stage Richy and Mikey Moore are the next cabs off the rank, we're hoping next week. Ben, Micky and Romero all kind of around the same time, back end of January."
Rodrigo Bentancur joins Tottenham's injured players on the sidelines as he serves a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation, but Spence makes a timely return from his own ban to cover for Udogie.
Spurs enter the weekend sitting in a lowly 11th place in the Premier League table, six spots below Newcastle, who are out to make it five wins from their last six Premier League games against the Lilywhites.
Ben Knapton
