Spurs boss admits Mousa Dembele’s groin injury has come at a ‘very bad moment’

By Ben Pearce, Tottenham Correspondent

Published: 1:40 PM February 24, 2016 Updated: 7:29 PM December 7, 2020

Mauricio Pochettino admits Mousa Dembele’s groin injury has come at a “very bad moment” after the Belgian midfielder was ruled out for up to two weeks.

Harry Kane will also miss tomorrow’s Europa League clash against Fiorentina at White Hart Lane after breaking his nose in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat against Crystal Palace - but the Spurs striker is expected to be available to return against Swansea at the weekend.

The bigger issue is the absence of the influential Dembele, who was withdrawn at half-time against Palace and is set to sit out the next three or four matches – including next week’s London derby at West Ham and possibly the big showdown with Arsenal on Sunday March 5.

“The good news is that Hugo [Lloris] is back in the group and available,” said Pochettino. “The bad news is that Harry and Mousa Dembele are out.

“We expect Mousa to be [out for] longer than Harry - 10 days to two weeks. It’s not a big issue but similar to before. It’s small but we have a lot of games ahead so it’s come at a very bad moment.

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“Harry Kane will be available for Sunday - we expect and we hope he’s available. Today he wasn’t here because he saw the specialist about his nose.

“On medical advice, it’s impossible for Harry to play tomorrow. In the last few minutes against Crystal Palace he played with a broken nose. Today we need to fix the problem – it’s impossible for him to play tomorrow but he’s available for Sunday.”