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José Mourinho has confirmed that Toby Alderweireld will miss up to four weeks of action due to a groin injury. The Belgian put in a superb performance to keep Manchester City at bay last Saturday, but limped away during the 2-0 win.
Now Mourinho has confirmed that the defender is ready for a period on the sidelines, which means that he will therefore miss the crucial London derbies with Chelsea and Arsenal.
“He has a muscle injury, but not as bad as we initially thought,” Mourinho said before the Europa League clash with Ludogorets.
“He will be out, but not for a month as we suspected. I would say 2 to 4 weeks.”
Alderweireld has had to be patient for this season’s opportunities at the heart of the defense.
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Mourinho has paid tribute to Rodón’s routes in the Championship, stating that he will be ready to take a step forward when called upon to do so.
“Playing regularly in the Championship I think it gives a quality player a certain level of intensity and experience to allow the players to be good players,” Mourinho said of Rodon.
“We have Davinson for tomorrow night and then Davinson and Joe for Sunday.”
In addition to Chelsea and Arsenal, Alderweireld could also miss matches again LASK, Antwerp, Crystal Palace and Liverpool should he need up to a month to recover.
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Meanwhile, fellow defender Dier has no illusions that losing Alderweireld was a bitter pill for the Spurs.
“A great blow. It would be a great blow for us. We have been defending very well,” he said.
“Three clean sheets in our last four [Premier League matches] and Toby has been a big part of that. I thought he made some fantastic interceptions, tackles and blocks today again when he needed to.
“Obviously any player on this team who gets injured is a huge loss to us and Toby is no different.”
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