Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is reportedly facing between six and eight weeks on the sidelines due to a knee injury sustained in Sunday's Premier League win over Manchester City.
The former France international completed the full 90 minutes as the Lilywhites defeated the champions 1-0 thanks to Harry Kane's record-breaking 267th goal for the club.
Tottenham - who were led by Cristian Stellini while Antonio Conte recovered from gallbladder surgery - seemingly came out of the game unscathed, barring Cristian Romero's sending off.
However, Telegraph journalist Matt Law has revealed that Lloris sustained ligament damage to his knee and is now facing an extended spell on the sidelines.
The 36-year-old needed treatment towards the end of the contest after a challenge, and the report adds that Spurs were initially worried about the prospect of Lloris missing the rest of the season.
Such fears have not come to fruition, but Lloris could still be sidelined until the start of April or later, ruling him out of several key fixtures domestically and continentally.
The former Lyon man will miss both legs of Spurs' Champions League last-16 tie with AC Milan, who host the Lilywhites at San Siro next Tuesday before the second leg in London on March 8.
Tottenham will host Chelsea in a Premier League London derby on February 26 without the services of Lloris, who will also sit out their FA Cup fifth-round tie with Sheffield United on March 1.
Fraser Forster will take Lloris's place in goal while the Frenchman recovers, and Tottenham are hopeful that he will not have to undergo surgery, but his situation will be closely monitored.
Lloris has kept nine clean sheets in 27 games for Tottenham across all competitions this season, but he has been the subject of criticism due to a number of high-profile mistakes.
The World Cup winner deflected a cross from Bukayo Saka into his own net as Spurs lost 2-0 to North London rivals Arsenal in January's derby, but Conte still hailed Lloris as one of the best goalkeepers on the planet after the game.
"In this situation it's always difficult. I think that it's not positive to be focused on only one situation or two situation," Conte explained.
"Football I know is this and sometimes you can do positive and save many situations positively but honestly I consider Hugo one of the best keepers in the world and it can happen.
"It can happen that sometimes you can make a mistake. For sure when there is the mistake of the keeper it is more visible. Hugo for us is a one of the players who is really important for the dressing room, for his personality because we are talking about a player who is one of the best keepers in the world."
Lloris boasts a total of 151 clean sheets in 443 outings for Tottenham since joining from Lyon in 2012, but his contract expires at the end of next season.
Forster's first game deputising for Lloris in goal will come on Saturday, as Conte's side travel to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City in the Premier League. body check tags ::
