The Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper is set to undergo surgery after playing for some time with a painful problem
Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is set to play through the pain before undergoing hernia surgery after Sunday's relegation six-pointer against Nottingham Forest.
The Italian has been a mainstay between the sticks again this season for the club with 42 appearances across all competitions and had to come off the bench for back-up keeper Antonin Kinsky last week in Spain after the young Czech goalkeeper had a nightmare 16 minutes in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid.
Now Spurs face a spell without Vicario but are hoping that his absence ties in as closely as possible to a natural break in their season.
The club announced on Friday: "We can confirm that Guglielmo Vicario will undergo surgery next week on a hernia. The minor procedure for the Italy international goalkeeper has been timed to have as minimal impact on our season as possible. Guglielmo will commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff immediately, and it is hoped that he could return to action within the next month."
The 29-year-old has been playing through gritted teeth for a number of weeks but has made himself available for selection on Sunday for the huge relegation clash as 16th-placed Spurs host Forest, who sit a point below them in the Premier League table.
Vicario's surgery comes in a period without a Tottenham fixture for three weeks due to the international break and then FA Cup weekend. The goalkeeper, who has been linked with a summer move to Serie A side Inter Milan, had to pull out of Italy duty but is a popular member of the squad and remains a strong contender to be part of their World Cup squad for the upcoming tournament in north America.
After Sunday's six-pointer against Forest, Spurs will not return to action until they face Sunderland in the Premier League on April 12.
Vicario would have taken Tottenham's injury list up to 10 players but for some positive news from Spurs boss Igor Tudor.
The Croatian confirmed that Joao Palhinha is back from concussion and Dominic Solanke should be available to face Forest after a recent issue.
"Dom didn't train, but probably [Saturday] he will train with the team and he will be available. It is a problem with his hip, so he will be ok," said Tudor.
While the interim head coach said there had been no progress for Dejan Kulusevski and his knee injury, he had positive news on the recovery of other long-term absentees Mohammed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentancur and James Maddison from their respective quad, hamstring and anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
"So we have this big three weeks after the game on Sunday. [Kudus will] probably do some part of the things with the squad maybe 10 days [after the break].," he said. "We need to check but he is progressing very well. Already a little bit with the ball. Rodrigo as well, Maddison as well. We hope the medical staff will give us some nice surprise in the next few weeks which would be very important."
Maddison has been out since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in early August during Son Heung-min's farewell pre-season match against Newcastle in South Korea. Tudor is hopeful that although the England international is not yet back with the group, he will return to action before the season is done.
"Yes [he could be back]. Maddison is already doing interesting things as well with the ball. Sprinting as well," said the head coach. "I saw him. He is positive."