Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that Dejan Kulusevski is ruled out of Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League last-16 first-leg tie with AZ Alkmaar on Thursday and is "unlikely" to feature again before the international break.
In what has been a disappointing season for Spurs overall, Kulusevski has been one of their most consistent performers this term, recording 10 goals and 10 assists in 42 games across all competitions.
The Sweden international most recently featured as a second-half substitute in Tottenham's narrow 1-0 home defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League a week last Wednesday.
However, Kulusevski then posted an image on Instagram on Tuesday of him wearing a protective boot on his left foot, raising concerns about his fitness.
The 24-year-old has officially been left out of Tottenham's travelling squad to the Netherlands to face AZ Alkmaar and he is in danger of being sidelined for the rest of this month through injury.
Injured Kulusevski "unlikely" to play for Spurs again until April
Discussing Kulusevski's injury at a press conference on Wednesday, Postecoglou said: "Deki is the only one (who has not travelled). He's had a knock on his foot. He's not really sure when (it happened) to be honest.
"It's been sore the last couple of weeks, but he has been able to train and play and still get through it, but it wasn't getting better, so we did some further investigations but there's no real clarity. We're just waiting on a couple of things to find out the extent of it.
"But he's unlikely to be back before the international break. It's nothing serious, it's nothing surgical or anything but he hasn't travelled."
Kulusevski is therefore set to miss Tottenham's next four matches in all competitions, including both legs of their Europa League last-16 tie with AZ Alkmaar.
Either side of their second-leg clash with the Eredivisie outfit, Spurs have two Premier League fixtures scheduled at home to Bournemouth on Sunday and away to Fulham on March 16.
If Kulusevski is indeed ruled out until after the international break, he will hope to have recovered in time to return when Spurs lock horns with Chelsea for a top-flight London derby at Stamford Bridge on April 3.
Postecoglou issues positive Van de Ven, Romero, Solanke update
On a positive note, Micky Van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Dominic Solanke have all been included in Postecoglou's matchday squad for Thursday after spells on the sidelines with injuries.
Both Van de Ven and Romero have missed significant chunks of this season with thigh injuries, while Solanke has been out for the last 10 games with a knee problem.
Discussing whether any of the trio will play against AZ Alkmaar, Postecoglou said: "We'll see. We'll train [Wednesday night]. They've all been out for an amount of time, so we'll see when we reintroduce them. They're here, training and we'll make decisions after that."
On Van de Ven, the Spurs boss added: "He's training and we're mindful, you know... the last time, while he came back and played half a game (against Elfsborg), we still felt and he still felt like he just didn't feel right.
"We've taken a different sort of road with him this time and he feels really good, he's been training for the last week and a half, he's in a good space and I guess it's a timing thing now, and when we reintroduce him.
"Again, we'll be gauged by how he feels, in terms of when he gets out there and has a run about, but, in terms of training, how he looks in training and how he feels, he certainly feels very confident that once he's back in the team he'll be all good."
Tottenham, the bookmakers' favourites to win this season's Europa League, secured fourth spot in the 36-team League Phase, while AZ Alkmaar finished 19th and required a 6-3 aggregate victory over Galatasaray in the playoff round to reach the knockout rounds. body check tags ::
