Tottenham Hotspur are facing a defensive injury crisis once again ahead of manager Ange Postecoglou's return to Glasgow to face Rangers in the Europa League on Thursday.
The former Celtic boss saw his two first-choice centre-backs break down with injury recurrences on their returns to the side in the 4-3 defeat to Chelsea over the weekend.
Micky van de Ven was brought back much sooner than expected from a hamstring issue, but pulled up and was seen clutching the back of his leg towards the end of the game on Sunday.
Postecoglou has come out and said that it is nothing serious, though, and that the Dutchman simply felt some tightness in his hamstring, but that will likely see him rested completely for this encounter.
There are bigger concerns over Cristian Romero, because Postecoglou said he was confident the Argentinian defender could have played 90 minutes against Chelsea, but had to be withdrawn inside the opening quarter of an hour, feeling discomfort in his quad once again.
With Ben Davies also out after sustaining his own hamstring injury in the defeat to Bournemouth a few days earlier, Spurs are once again very short on numbers in the centre of defence.
Despite his tender years and unfamiliarity with the position, Archie Gray could be the man to step into centre-back alongside Radu Dragusin, meaning Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie may not be given the night off at full-back.
Postecoglou has plenty of options further forward, including in midfield, where Rodrigo Bentancur will be able to play here, despite serving a seven-game domestic suspension.
Bentancur may be joined in the engine room by Yves Bissouma, because his booking against Chelsea means he will be banned for the trip to Southampton on Sunday, meaning this will be his only chance to play before their EFL Cup quarter-final against Manchester United next week.
Richarlison, Wilson Odobert and Mikey Moore remain out and may not feature before the New Year, but Will Lankshear, who has been used often in Europe, is available once again, after serving a one-game ban against Roma following his sending off at Galatasaray.
Even though illness hit Brennan Johnson during the game against Chelsea, leading to his early withdrawal, the Welshman is in contention to play, but Timo Werner will be one of the players waiting in the wings to come in if he is not ready.
The only other injury absentee at present for Spurs is goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who will miss the next few months after breaking his ankle against Manchester City, so Fraser Forster, who had a fine game against Roma on matchday five, is set to start between the sticks again.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup: Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Udogie; Sarr, Bentancur, Bissouma; Johnson, Lankshear, Son
Click here to see how Rangers could line up for this all-British Europa League affair.
Andrew Delaney
