Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has provided a positive injury update on as many as three players ahead of the Lilywhites' Premier League clash with Luton Town on Saturday.
With current leaders Manchester City not in action until Sunday afternoon against Arsenal, Spurs can jump to the top of the table with all three points at Kenilworth Road.
The North London giants remain unbeaten under Postecoglou in the Premier League this term thanks to last week's controversial 2-1 success over Liverpool, where Son Heung-min came off before the end.
The Tottenham skipper is understood to have been nursing a groin injury since undergoing an operation at the end of last season, but he has been called up to the South Korea squad for this month's internationals.
Meanwhile, Manor Solomon is confirmed to have suffered a serious knee injury earlier this week, and he joins fellow long-term absentees Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee) and Ivan Perisic (knee) in the treatment room.
Brennan Johnson is also yet to overcome a hamstring injury, but Bryan Gil (groin) and Giovani Lo Celso (thigh) have been taking part in training this week, and Postecoglou has confirmed that both players have a chance of being involved at Kenilworth Road.
"I guess the main one is Manor Solomon who picked up an injury during the week unfortunately and will put him out for a little while, which is disappointing for him, disappointing for us," Postecoglou told Tottenham's social media channels.
"He has already contributed significantly this year and was growing into the role we want him to play. Brennan will still be out for this weekend but hopefully he should be okay after the international break and then everyone else is okay.
"Ryan and Rodrigo are still well off (in terms of their respective returns to action). But Bryan and Gio have trained this week, which is good, so there's a possibility they will be involved in the game."
As well as Spurs' known absentees, there has been a lingering concern over James Maddison for the past couple of weeks after the Englishman came off injured in the North London derby against Arsenal.
Maddison suffered a nasty hyperextension of his knee at the Emirates Stadium, but the August Premier League Player of the Month avoided a serious problem and was back in the first XI against Liverpool.
Maddison was unable to see out the win as he was replaced by Alejo Veliz in added time, but Postecoglou humorously allayed fears of an issue to his star playmaker in his pre-game press conference.
When asked if he had to wrap Maddison in cotton wool, Postecoglou responded: "No one's wrapped in cotton wool mate, there's no cotton wool here, it's only barbed wire and uncomfortable uniforms.
"They all work hard every day, they just have different protos [protocols], but Madders has trained all week, he hasn't missed a session."
Tottenham head to Luton having scored at least twice in all seven Premier League games under Postecoglou so far, and the Australian could set a new competition record on Saturday, as no manager has ever seen their side score at least two goals in each of their first eight matches in charge. body check tags ::
