Tottenham Hotspur will be without Destiny Udogie, Guglielmo Vicario and Pape Matar Sarr for Saturday’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Head coach Roberto De Zerbi also confirmed that James Maddison will be included in the squad but is unlikely to feature.
Spurs have not won a game since December and are two points away from safety before this weekend’s trip to Wolves. Rob Edwards’ side are bottom of the table and their relegation was confirmed following last weekend’s defeat to Leeds United.
Udogie has found it difficult to stay fit throughout the season. The left-back missed six weeks of action after suffering a hamstring injury in February’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester United and returned as a substitute in last month’s 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest.
The Italy international started both of new head coach Roberto De Zerbi’s first two games in charge before breaking down again. He will not play against Wolves but could return for next week’s fixture against Aston Villa.
“Destiny has a problem,” De Zerbi said during his pre-match news conference on Friday. “I think he can’t play tomorrow. I’m sorry because he played a great first-half, the second-half as well, but the first one was great (against Brighton). But we have Spence, Souza is available to come with us. It’s not a big problem. I hope Udogie can be available in the next week at Villa Park.”
Vicario had a hernia operation during the March international break. De Zerbi hoped the goalkeeper would return this week but now expects him to be back in training on Monday. Sarr was left out of the squad for last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. De Zerbi revealed the Senegal international is struggling with a shoulder issue and has not recovered in time to feature at Molineux.
Maddison suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury at the beginning of August and was expected to miss the entire season, but appeared in the squad for the Brighton draw Maddison’s return was a boost for the supporters but he did not warm-up during the game.
“He is not available yet, especially in this week,” De Zerbi said. “He felt pain but not so important problem. Tomorrow he will come with us on the bench because he is important if he plays or not it doesn’t matter. Better if he plays, for sure, but as a guy, as a leader, he is a positive guy.
“Inside of my dressing room I want to see nice people, positive people and this is important also for his team-mates.”
Tottenham’s injury crisis
Analysis by Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Jay Harris
Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor and De Zerbi have all been affected by Tottenham’s crippling injury crisis this season. Spurs have the numbers in midfield to cope with Sarr’s absence while Kinksy has performed well in their last two games. The Czech Republic international has bounced back from his difficult evening in the first leg of Spurs’ Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid.
Even if Maddison features again this season, it is hard to see him making a huge impact after spending so long on the sidelines. However, losing Udogie to another muscular injury is a huge blow for Spurs.
They do not have a natural, quality replacement for him at left-back. Souza is highly-rated but raw and Ben Davies is recovering from ankle surgery. Spence has covered Udogie for a significant chunk of the season. Spence is right-footed though and Spurs lack the same fluency going forward when he plays on that part of the pitch.
Udogie’s latest setback presents Spurs with a dilemma heading into the summer. The 23-year-old is excellent when he is fully fit but has never played more than 28 league games since he moved to north London from Italian side Udinese. He is not reliable enough and the club need to decide whether they should persist with him or make the difficult decision to sell.