Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank has confirmed Dominic Solanke will not be ready for Wednesday's trip to Bournemouth and will need time to return to his best.
Solanke last played for Spurs on Aug. 23 at Manchester City, with a troublesome ankle issue restricting him to only three appearances during the first half of the season.
The England forward had minor ankle surgery on Oct. 1 and Tottenham have been careful with his rehabilitation since then. Solanke returned to training last week but Frank revealed the 28-year-old will not face old club Bournemouth.
"Nope, he will not, but positive going forward," Frank said when asked if Solanke would make the trip to the Vitality Stadium.
"[Monday] you could see in training that he's nice and composed on the ball, good decisions, good touches and then when we're a little bit more competitive in the small-sided [games], he is of course lacking [sharpness] and he looked a little rusty, which is completely normal.
"Now he's unfortunately been out for at least six months, right? Yeah, six months, a little bit more than that, so, of course, it will take a little bit of time.
"So, even if he's ready for whatever time in the near future, hopefully [soon], then I think you will be surprised to just see him hit the ground running. Very few players do that."
With Solanke still not available and last season's leading scorer Brennan Johnson sold to Crystal Palace on Friday, Tottenham are short on attacking firepower.
Mohammed Kudus appears unlikely to recover in time to face Bournemouth after he suffered a left leg injury in the early exchanges of Sunday's 1-1 draw with Sunderland.
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"He's going for a scan. Yeah, most likely ruled out for Bournemouth," Frank said,
Destiny Udogie has returned to training after a hamstring injury and could be an option, while captain Cristian Romero will play even though Tottenham did not appeal against a recent Football Association charge for his conduct after his red card against Liverpool on Dec. 20.
The FA claimed Romero "acted in an improper manner by failing to promptly leave the field of play and/or behaving in a confrontational and/or aggressive manner towards the match referee after being sent off."
Spurs responded to the FA but accepted the charge and, asked when to expect news of a potential ban, Frank said: "I honestly don't know. He's available for Bournemouth. That's the game ahead for me."