The 25-year-old has struggled for fitness since the end of 2018 and will miss the clash with Chelsea

Tottenham Hotspur will be without Eric Dier again for their clash at Chelsea in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

Spurs’ utility man missed Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Burnley with tonsillitis and is still not over the illness.

It continues a frustrating second-half of the campaign for Dier, with the England ace in and out of the Lilywhites team more than normal in recent months.

Previously the one-time Everton loanee had virtually been an ever-present under boss Mauricio Pochettino.

This has changed this term, however, with Dier rarely featuring since the middle of December when he had his appendix removed.

After eventually coming back a month later, he was hit with a virus at the beginning of February and now has another issue.

It is a worry for the former Sporting Lisbon youngster, who played almost 50 times for Spurs last season.

This campaign he has only made 21 appearances for Tottenham so far which is well below his usually tally of outings.

With games to come against Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund over the next week, Dier will hope to shake off this illness and get back to full fitness for the business end of the season.

Dele Alli will also miss the clash at Chelsea, but he is understood to be progressing well from his hamstring issue.

When the playmaker will return remains to be seen though, with Tottenham keen not to put a timescale on when he will be involved with team again.

Aside from this, Spurs are well stocked in most areas, but Pochettino will probably make some changes to the side which started at Burnley.

Ben Davies could replace Danny Rose at left-back and Kieran Trippier looks likely to come in for Serge Aurier on the right side of defence.

Further forward, Pochettino will have to decide if Kane is fit enough to start three games in a week with Arsenal up next following this battle at Stamford Bridge.

If he isn’t, Tottenham could put Heung-min Son back up top – a position where he has recently enjoyed a huge amount of success.