Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has delivered a reassuring update on the condition of Rodrigo Bentancur following the midfielder's worrying head injury against Liverpool.
Play was stopped for 10 minutes in Wednesday's EFL Cup semi-final first leg, as Bentancur dived to head the ball from a corner but landed incredibly awkwardly on the turf.
Teammates and medical staff quickly rushed to the Uruguayan's aid while he lay motionless on the floor, and he was eventually loaded onto a stretcher to warm applause from both sets of supporters.
Spurs ended up prevailing 1-0 in the first leg courtesy of a Lucas Bergvall winner, although the Bentancur incident slightly overshadowed Tottenham's success, especially given their pre-existing injury crisis.
However, speaking to Tottenham's media channels on Friday ahead of Sunday's FA Cup trip to Tamworth, Postecoglou confirmed that Bentancur had not sustained anything more severe than a concussion and should be back after a couple of weeks.
Postecoglou: 'Bentancur is fine and feeling good'
"Good news. He was in hospital obviously, they did all the tests, just making sure everything is okay, and all good," Postecoglou said. "He's back home, he's fine, he's feeling good. We follow the protocols now, a couple of weeks where you just have to make sure everything's okay. Looks like a concussion but nothing more than that.
"It's always distressing, especially Pedro [Porro], who was the first one there and knew it was a distressing situation, but I thought the lads handled it well and the medical team handled it well."
Bentancur will likely miss four Tottenham matches as he completes his two-week recovery period, starting with the FA Cup third-round encounter with non-league Tamworth, which comes three days before a Premier League North London derby against Arsenal at the Emirates.
The ex-Juventus man will also be unavailable for the trip to Goodison Park to face Everton on January 19, and the Europa League sojourn to Hoffenheim on January 23 may also come too soon for him.
However, Bentancur should be given the green light to make his return in Spurs' Premier League clash at home to Leicester City on January 26, or failing that their final Europa League league phase encounter with Elfsborg on January 30.
Which other Spurs players will miss Tamworth tie?
Bentancur is expected to be one of eight Tottenham absentees for Sunday's FA Cup match, a list that also includes first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who is still on the mend from an ankle fracture.
Meanwhile, all of Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Wilson Odobert, Ben Davies and Richarlison are nursing thigh injuries, but the latter might return for the North London derby next week.
Backup goalkeeper Fraser Forster is also facing a race against time to return from illness for the weekend's game, but either Antonin Kinsky - who shone on his debut against Liverpool - or Brandon Austin should don the gloves here.
Austin could be one of several fringe/fledgling players to come into the XI at the Lamb Ground, where 17-year-old attacking phenom Mikey Moore is in line for his first appearance since October, having struggled with a virus for a couple of months.
Moore returned to the matchday squad for the clash with Liverpool, where Sergio Reguilon, Will Lankshear, Alfie Dorrington and Timo Werner were also on the bench, and the quartet are candidates to start Sunday's game too.
Postecoglou will also have midfield duo James Maddison and Pape Sarr back from the EFL Cup suspensions they served in the first-leg win over Liverpool. body check tags ::
