London
Tottenham coach Jose Mourinho said on Wednesday Belgium defender Toby Alderweireld will be sidelined for between two and four weeks.
Alderweireld sustained an adductor injury in Saturday’s win against Manchester City. The centre-back is out of Thursday’s Europa League tie against Bulgarian side Ludogorets and could miss several crucial Premier League matches as the leaders bid to cement their place at the top.
“He has a muscular injury but not as big as we initially thought,” Mourinho said. “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 of Ludogorets’ players had tested positive for coronavirus.
But Mourinho said: “According to my information, that’s not true. “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. “ Tottenham’s march to the top of the Premier League has come as a surprise to some after they failed to finish in the top four last term.—AP
