Tottenham have six stars awaiting their return from injury to help their team-mates and head coach Roberto De Zerbi.
Spurs went into the international break stuck to the bottom of the Premier League table and while the pause in club football was a frustrating one, it did mean that De Zerbi could have some of his injured players back without missing too many league encounters. The other side of the coin though is that he has also been left sweating over the fitness of his international stars and any injuries that might occur while they are away with their countries.
De Zerbi needs to know which players will be available for him to selected for the next Premier League match at Old Trafford against Manchester United on October 10, followed by a home game with promoted Coventry and then comes a derby night at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.
Here is the list of De Zerbi's current players who are either injured or doubts ahead of the match at Old Trafford and some potential return dates.
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Jan Paul van Hecke
New to the club and already an injury doubt, Jan Paul van Hecke picked up an injury on international duty with the Netherlands this week.
The 27-year-old centre-back played the full 90-plus minutes in both of the Netherlands' Nations League matches this week, with a 1-1 draw with Germany in Amsterdam last Thursday and then Sunday's 2-1 victory away against Serbia. However, it was in that latter match that Van Hecke suffered the injury that ended his international duty early as he did not realise with the adrenalin of the encounter that someone had stepped on his toe. The defender is now back at Hotspur Way as the extent of his injury is assessed.
"During the match against Serbia, someone stepped on him. He didn’t realise it during the match, but afterwards it was impossible for him to play," Xavi said in an interview with Dutch broadcasters NOS, as quoted by Sport Witness.
"He really wanted to try, but he was in a lot of pain. That is why we decided to take him off the list. He tried to participate in recovery training [on Tuesday]. He tried again [on Wednesday], but he couldn’t touch the ball."
That means Van Hecke missed the Dutch squad's 2-2 draw Greece on Thursday and he will also miss the match back home against Serbia on Sunday, meaning he is a doubt for Tottenham.
Return date: Unknown and we await De Zerbi's press conference
Pedro Porro
Tottenham's World Cup winner had only just returned from a muscular issue when he suffered a hamstring injury 15 minutes into the defeat against Aston Villa.
De Zerbi said: "I said after the World Cup, the management of Pedro should be different, because after the World Cup, many games. I don't know what the problem is. It's a hamstring, I think. Hopefully, it's not a big problem."
With De Zerbi giving all of his players the first week of the break off if they are not with their national teams, Porro took the chance to head back home to his province of Extremadura to work with specialists to ensure he has optimum fitness levels for when he returns while strengthening around his hamstring.
Porro has worked for years with physio David de la Hera, who runs the Badajoz-based Axis Polyclinic and helps a number of international players, and the right-back is considered one of the fittest players at Tottenham and in the Spanish set-up. Last week the duo made their way to SPZ Iron training club, where the CEO Nuno Ferreira is a professor of neuroscience and applies it to sports science, to work on the Spurs man's recovery.
The expectation is that the Spanish right-back could be out for around a month, which would see him back either for the game against Coventry or Tottenham playing it safe and giving him another five days before the trip across the capital to Chelsea.
Return date: October 24 against Chelsea unless he feels ready to go before
Mykhailo Mudryk
football.london broke the news earlier this month that Mykhailo Mudryk had suffered an ankle injury in training and would be out for anywhere between four to eight weeks.
De Zerbi confirmed that news at his press conference later in the week, saying: "'It was a stupid injury to Mudryk, and we hope he comes back as soon as possible. Playing without tackle, without different movement, he felt pain in the ankle, and then after two days, he made the medical check. We already knew it could be difficult to come back [immediately] as a normal player."
The 25-year-old remains in recovery in London and is doing everything possible with physios and the medical staff to try to return at the earlier end of the timescale. It's still too early to tell and it's all about how quickly the Ukranian's ankle heals and it could still be anytime next month that he returns.
Return date: One of the October games.
Dejan Kulusevski
Dejan Kulusevski is edging closer to his return to a matchday squad after more than 500 days out of the game and has continued to train with his team-mates this week at Hotspur Way.
The Swede has been out since May last year after suffering a complicated injury to the patella in his right knee during a Premier League match against Crystal Palace. The 26-year-old faced a couple of setbacks during his recovery which meant he missed the entirety of last season as well as the World Cup this summer.
However, the Swede returned to full training with De Zerbi's squad on the final day of last month. He paused briefly after picking up a small problem as his body adjusted to regular first team training again, but was back with his Spurs team-mates again last week.
He then continued his work this week during his time off, using facilities in Sweden, before returning to Tottenham's Enfield training complex. Now it's a case of Kulusevski getting a bank of training time under his belt with his team-mates without any setbacks or little issues. When that happens he will take his place on the bench.
"We have to manage Deki in the best way possible with the medical staff," said De Zerbi. "He deserves to play again. We have to work day-by-day. For Deki, it is important the international break because when he is at top, best condition, he will be like another new signing."
Return date: One of the next three matches if he continues to train without issues.
Wilson Odobert
Odobert ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament 35 minutes into the Premier League match against Newcastle United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 10.
The France under-21 international had made 33 appearances for the north London club with five assists and two goals before the injury in Thomas Frank's final match for the club. It meant Odobert would not play for caretaker boss Igor Tudor and more importantly De Zerbi.
It will be eight months into his rehabilitation when the internatioanal break ends and Odobert will now be in the latter phases of his recovery. It may not be too long before we see the winger back in training.
Return date: The usual nine-month timeframe points towards a November return but he will be pushing for sooner.
Xavi Simons
Xavi joined the list of ACL injury victims when 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 be working hard to try to be back sooner but 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.
