Roy Keane has questioned whether or not James Maddison is consistent enough to spearhead Tottenham up the Premier League table when he returns from injury as Ange Postecoglou's men languish in 14th spot.
Maddison is one of several absentees for the Spurs, having missed his side's last five games across all competitions after suffering a calf injury in January.
In addition to seven-cap England star Maddison, the Lilywhites are also without Radu Dragusin, Dominic Solanke, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Richarlison, Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, Guglielmo Vicario and Wilson Odebert.
However, Keane has questioned whether or not Spurs - who have won just one of their last eight Premier League games - will experience a drastic upturn in results when the former Leicester City midfielder returns to selection in the coming weeks ahead.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Overlap, Keane said: "Which players [are we] talking about coming back that can help Spurs? I agree with [Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario] - that's two.
"[Destiny] Udogie is not bad. We saw James Maddison at Tamworth, he was taken off! Tamworth are non-league... People say; 'Maddison's the man', but when is he going to step up to the plate?
"He got relegated with Leicester [City] and [looks like] with Spurs. Maddison isn't bad, but if you think he's going to come back and get Spurs top six, you're in cuckoo land.
"He's a talented player, but if you're a player in the Spurs dressing room and he's back in the squad, you wouldn't be looking and going; 'James is back today - we're going to be fine'."
Despite a torrid run of form in the Premier League, and exiting both domestic cups in the space of four days last week, Postecoglou jumped to the defence of his injury-stricken side after Sunday's 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa.
"I don't care about me, people will judge me or whatever," he said. "But you can't judge this group of players on what's happened. They've given everything. Two 18-year-olds, a 17-year-old, a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old goalkeeper starting against one of the best teams in the country at home.
"They [Villa] had a week off, they didn't play on Thursday night against Liverpool. We did. Same group of players, not a change. You can't measure this group of players on that and their performance. It's too easy for people to be critical of them. I have huge admiration and respect for them."