Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison has suggested that he may not return from an ankle injury until the back end of January.

Maddison is currently in his first season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after signing from Leicester City in the summer.

At a time when Spurs established a lead at the top of the Premier League table, the 27-year-old was able to contribute three goals and five assists from 11 starts.

However, Maddison suffered an ankle problem towards the end of the first half of the game with Chelsea on November 6, leading to his withdrawal.

Head coach Ange Postecoglou revealed later that week that the England international faced the prospect of being absent for the remainder of 2023.

Since then, there has been no specific update on Maddison's recovery, with the assumption being that he remains on track to return in the opening weeks of next year.

In an interview with former goalkeeper Ben Foster for Amazon Prime Video Sport, Maddison has spoken on his injury, admitting his frustration and acknowledging that he is still some way from being back in action.

Maddison said: "It's healing well, it's a bit of a slow burner which is obviously frustrating because like you said, I started the season so well. But it's healing, slowly but surely.

"It's frustrating, you know what it's like being injured, everyday is tough, especially at Spurs, the training ground has got the big window so the physio room is just looking perfectly out to the training pitch watching all the lads train and prepare for the games at the minute.

"You have that helpless feeling but it's recovering well, it's one of them, it's going to take a bit of time, you've got to just accept it and then crack on with the rehab."

When quizzed on whether a return in six or seven weeks was a realistic target, Maddison added: "Yeah, something like that".

In his absence, Spurs have collected just one point from three matches, albeit from a thrilling 3-3 draw against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday evening.

Spurs now sit in fifth position in the standings, six points adrift of leaders Arsenal ahead of Thursday's London derby at home to West Ham United. body check tags ::