Injury blow for Tottenham as defender Cristian Romero ruled out for four or five weeks

LONDON (AP) — Tottenham defender Cristian Romero will be out of action for four or five weeks with a hamstring injury, manager Ange Postecoglou said on Wednesday.

The Argentina international, who only returned from a three-match suspension at the start of this month, sustained the injury during Saturday's 2-1 Premier League victory over Everton.

On the eve of fourth-place Tottenham's Premier League game at Brighton on Thursday, Postecoglou told reporters: “Not so great with Romero. He had a scan the other day and has got a hamstring strain. We are looking at probably four or five weeks for him.

“Disappointing to lose him, for sure. We obviously missed him with the suspension and now we’ve just got him back and he steadied things up. Now he will be missing again for quite a chunk of time.”

However, Romero's centre-back partner Micky van de Ven should be ready to return soon after his own hamstring injury.

“We will see him some time in January,” Postecoglou said. "I don’t think for Burnley (in the FA Cup on Jan. 5) but for Manchester United on the 14th potentially.

“He is not due to be part of the group this week so we’ll see how he is going at the end of this week. Once they start training with the group, that’s when we start thinking about if they are available."

Spurs will have Destiny Udogie back at ninth-place Brighton after his one-match ban, and Postecoglou could push full-back Emerson Royal into the heart of defence alongside Ben Davies in Romero’s absence.

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