- Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino suffered an injury scare over Jan Vertonghen
- Belgium boss Roberto Martinez has provided an update on his condition
- Spurs will hope for a boost ahead of the north London derby against Arsenal
- READ MORE: Manchester United’s Ashley Young breaks silence on brutal clash with England team-mate
Club managers around the world will be dreading news of an injury over the international break, and Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is no different.
The Argentine tactician has seen his side make an impressive start to the campaign as they sit third in the Premier League table, and top of their Champions League group.
Particularly with the north London derby against Arsenal to come on November 18 when they return from international duty, the last thing Tottenham would have wanted was an injury to a pivotal figure in their backline.
That’s what they seemingly had when defender Jan Vertonghen was ruled out of Belgium’s friendly against Mexico on Friday, but as per freelance injury analyst Ben Dinnery below, the 30-year-old’s ankle knock is described as “nothing serious” by Belgium boss Roberto Martinez.
Jan Vertonghen has been ruled out of #BEL friendly with Mexico but Martinez has played down the injury: “He is suffering from a slight discomfort in his ankle, but that’s nothing serious.” Could be fit for Tuesday. #COYS
— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) November 9, 2017
Further, Vertonghen is expected to feature against Japan on Tuesday, and so that would suggest that Tottenham don’t need to be concerned, although they’ll naturally be monitoring the game and hoping that he doesn’t aggravate the problem.
Tottenham have the second-best defensive record in the Premier League having conceded just seven goals in 11 games, and their experienced defensive leader has played in all of those outings as he reinforces his position as a crucial part of this current team.
In turn, any spell on the sidelines would hurt Spurs, but they’ll be hopeful that they won’t have any issues when he reports back for training next week, depending on how he comes through against Japan which could be argued is an unnecessary risk to take from Martinez’s perspective.