Tottenham centre-back Cristian Romero returned to training on Wednesday but has not travelled to Germany for their Europa League clash at Hoffenheim.
Romero has only played once during the last two months following a toe issue, which was followed by a groin injury sustained in his comeback against Chelsea on December 8.
The absence of vice-captain Romero has occurred at a time when Spurs have repeatedly been without key personnel and poor form has followed to increase external noise around manager Ange Postecoglou’s position.
Postecoglou retains the support of the club board, the PA news agency understands, and while Romero’s return to training will lift spirits amongst a depleted squad, the Argentina defender will not feature in Thursday’s away match at Hoffenheim where Tottenham could be without 14 players.
“He is training but he’s not travelled and is not playing. Yeah, probably another week to 10 days for him,” Postecoglou said.
Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma, Wilson Odobert, Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner and Dominic Solanke were already ruled out for Spurs through injury.
However, Antonin Kinsky, Djed Spence, Sergio Reguilon and Yang Min-hyeok are also unavailable due to not being registered for the league phase of the Europa League.
Rodrigo Bentancur will return after he completed concussion protocols following a head injury against Liverpool on January 8, but fellow midfielder Pape Sarr is expected to miss out after he received a “knock” in Sunday’s 3-2 loss at Everton, which left Spurs 15th in the Premier League.
Postecoglou added: “From last game couple of players ineligible, Djed and Reguilon, and only other one missing is Pape, who has a slight knock from weekend so he is out. We get Bentancur back so that is only one.
“There’s no doubt that the players, I mean Pape the latest of the guys who’ve been sort of grinding through for as long as they can. We’ve no other options, that’s the basic premise of it.
“We’ve probably got 13 first-team players who’ve travelled. At the weekend we’re hoping Pape on a quick turnaround, and potentially Biss but everything else is further down track.
“We don’t have many options, apart from throwing untried youngsters in there but again I don’t want to do that to them. We’ll try to focus on the next task, that’s tomorrow night, get through that and assess it from there.
“This has been a good solid two months of us relying on a small group of players.
“We’re in every competition which is a great thing but it adds a toll. We’ve been playing two games a week for this whole period. That’s why we’re picking up some injuries now.
“The players are giving everything every game. They’re trying their utmost in every fixture we have.
“We’re still in three cup competitions so there’s a fantastic opportunity there for us in the next couple of months.”
Spurs’ only January signing so far has been goalkeeper Kinsky and even though Postecoglou has repeatedly called for help, he acknowledged they may fail to make another signing.
He admitted: “Yeah, potentially. The club is working hard to try to get some help for the players, but as far as I know, there’s nothing imminent. Things happen quickly in the last week of the window so still hopeful.”
