Roberto De Zerbi is waiting for an important quartet of Tottenham attackers to be back in competitive action after their injuries.
The Italian will be keeping his fingers tightly crossed, because at the moment the Spurs head coach has just four players who are waiting a return to action, albeit they are a quartet that contain all of his number 10 playmakers so are pretty vital to the team's attacking play. Yet it still marks an improvement on the double figure injury counts for much of recent seasons.
With Everton the visitors to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this Saturday evening, De Zerbi will be hoping for no more fresh problems from or after the hard-fought draw at Nottingham Forest last weekend and potentially at least one of his injury doubts back and available for selection.
Here are De Zerbi's current players who are either injured or potential doubts ahead of the game against the Toffees and some potential return dates.
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James Maddison
You have to feel for James Maddison. The midfielder missed much of last season following his ACL injury suffered last summer, came off the bench for the final three matches in May, and then did not play a pre-season minute all summer after a small problem kept him out of training for a little while.
The 29-year-old then made his comeback late on in the defeat at Brentford only to suffer a freak shoulder fracture after falling awkwardly late in the game.
Maddison has missed the past couple of matches but returned to training on Thursday last week and the game at the City Ground came just too soon for the England international.
Return date: Hopefully back on the bench on Saturday against Everton if his shoulder does not give him any problems this week.
Dejan Kulusevski
Things have been mostly moving in the right direction for Dejan Kulusevski in recent weeks and that led to his return to full training last week. That came 477 days after the 26-year-old's complicated patella injury in his knee against Crystal Palace that took a season out of his career and cost him his World Cup dream.
Spurs are being cautious and not pushing the Sweden international with any strict timeline. De Zerbi named Kulusevski in his Premier League squad for the coming season this week, leaving out wantaway Richarlison, showing that he will count on him in the months ahead.
Kulusevski posted a long, heartfelt letter from his family on Instagram last week about his return to full training after so long out, along with his own message: "After 477 days I came back to full team training. Everything is impossible until is not. Want to see a miracle. Be one. See you soon."
De Zerbi was delighted to see the Spurs attacker back among the group while admitting that he missed a couple of days towards the end of the week with a small problem, which is not unusual for players returning from long-term injuries as their bodies have to adapt to the physical load of full regular sessions again.
"Kulusevski started with us in the beginning of the week, and then the last two days, a small, small problem, stopped, but I think he’s in a good way. It’s going very well," said the Spurs boss. "I already said the medical staff is very high level. So I think we can be positive with him. I’m looking forward to having Deki in the squad.
When asked if the small problem would keep Kulusevski out of training for long, De Zerbi said: "No, no. Nothing of importance."
Return date: Unknown but it feels like it's getting closer.
Wilson Odobert
Odobert joined Tottenham's ruptured anterior cruciate ligament gang when he suffered the injury 35 minutes into the Premier League match against Newcastle United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 10.
The France under-21 international had just started to find his rhythm despite Tottenham's struggles last season as he put hamstring issues from the previous campaign behind him to make 33 appearances for the north London club with five assists and two goals.
His injury came in Thomas Frank's final match for the club and meant Odobert could not play for caretaker boss Igor Tudor and more importantly De Zerbi.
Seven months into his rehabilitation and Odobert will now be in the latter phases where he will be doing more outdoor work while building the strength and trust in those ligaments.
Return date: The usual nine-month timeframe points towards a November training return but he will be pushing for sooner.
Xavi Simons
Just as he was starting to sparkle under De Zerbi so Xavi also joined the list of ACL injury victims as he went down against Wolves at Molineux.
Like Odobert, the 23-year-old has youth on his side and that could contribute to a quicker return than normal as things heal that little bit faster when you've got time on your side.
Xavi suffered the injury on April 25 and the nine-month timeline would put him as being back in training around January. The Dutchman will no doubt be working hard to try to be back before any prescribed return date but he will also need to be wary of coming back too soon and risking a re-tear.
De Zerbi put Xavi in his Premier League squad over the fit Richarlison, which was sending a message to all concerned and also hinting that he believes his playmaker might not be as long as we all think.