Tottenham Hotspur defender Kevin Danso is out until after the international break due to a hamstring injury.
The Austria international, who joined the club for a €25million (£20.9m; $25.9m) fee from French club Lens in January, sustained the issue during Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Bournemouth.
Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou confirmed Danso’s absence before his side’s Europa League round of 16 second leg against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday. Tottenham head into the game 1-0 down on aggregate after their defeat in the Netherlands last week.
“Kevin got a hamstring injury in the last game and he is out,” Postecoglou said in a news conference. “Ben (Davies) is back in. That’s the only change from the weekend, everyone else got through the game no problems.”
Tottenham have suffered an extended injury crisis this season, with their defence most heavily affected.
Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies have all had extended spells on the sidelines, with Danso starting every game for the north London side since signing a five-and-a-half-year deal.
Postecoglou confirmed that both Romero and Van de Ven made it through the Bournemouth game unscathed, although the amount of time that Danso is expected to be sidelined remains unclear.
“Hard to say at the moment,” he said. “He felt it right at the end of the game. We will see. Kevin looks after himself, he is a pretty good athlete. We have to let it settle down before we get clarity on it.”
Danso, 26, has made seven appearances, completing 90 minutes in all but one of those games, playing for 78 minutes during the 1-0 Premier League victory over Manchester United on February 16.
The injury will mean that the centre-back will miss Austria’s Nations League fixtures against Serbia on March 20 and March 23.
‘Postecoglou faces a huge call’
Analysis by Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Jay Harris
Danso was thrown straight into Tottenham’s starting XI after he joined them at the beginning of February and made his debut in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool because first-choice centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero were injured.
The Austria international quickly became the leader of a patchwork defence and has had three different centre-back partners across his seven appearances.
He aggressively follows strikers when they drop deep and is a powerful dribbler capable of progressing the ball with surging runs. Danso will be a huge miss for Spurs in their vital Europa League second leg tie against AZ Alkmaar.
Romero made his first appearance since December in last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Bournemouth and made a mistake in possession in the first minute which nearly led to Andoni Iraola’s side scoring.
Postecoglou faces a huge call about whether he should risk starting van de Ven and Romero in such a crucial game when they are not operating at 100 per cent. Losing Danso only complicates the situation and increases the prospect of Ben Davies or 19-year-old Archie Gray starting.
Tottenham face Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday and then do not play again until after the March international break. Hopefully, Danso will recover in time for their clash against bitter rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on April 3.
(ANP via Getty Images)