Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Erik Lamela may not return to action for Tottenham Hotspur this season due to his ongoing hip injury.

The £30m club-record signing has been absent for the Lilywhites since picking up the problem in their EFL Cup fourth-round defeat to Liverpool in October.

Pochettino has constantly refused to offer a potential return date, leading to suggestions that the Argentina international - who returned to his homeland for a family matter recently - is perhaps unsettled in North London.

Questioned once more about a possible return to action for Lamela in the coming weeks, the former Espanyol boss told reporters: "I don't want to lie to you and give some information that after you use, you are right to use.

"I can't say one week, two weeks, three weeks, one month or maybe next season. I don't know. My position is too difficult because we are assessing him every day, how he is in the morning, we prepare a plan.

"Sometimes he is involved from the beginning in the warm-up with the team, sometimes he feels pain and we change the plan. Now it is day by day, we will see. We hope he can be available again as soon as possible. That is our idea but we can't give any more information."

Lamela, who joined Spurs from Roma for a fee of £30m in 2013, has made a total of 14 appearances for Spurs this season in all competitions.