Following some bad news on the injury front regarding captain Hugo Lloris on Wednesday morning, Tottenham were dealt another big blow just over 24 hours later. Yves Bissouma was the unlucky player this time, with the summer addition needing to undergo surgery on Friday to repair a stress fracture to his left ankle.
It is not exactly clear yet when he will be available for Antonio Conte once again as the club did indicate that a timeframe would only be determined after his operation. The double blow comes at a bad time for the Italian, with the team building some real momentum since their 4-2 defeat at Manchester City midway through January.
Not only do Tottenham have the top-four race on their mind at present, Tuesday evening sees the team travel to the San Siro to take on Italian giants AC Milan as the Champions League resumes. Only last Sunday, everything seemed extremely positive with Conte and Cristian Stellini having a fully-fit squad to select from when Man City visited Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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Things have unfortunately taken a turn for the worse this week but Spurs will be determined that it doesn't derail their recent progress. Bissouma's absence does hand Conte quite the decision going into their Champions League knockout tie away at AC Milan, though.
Tottenham are also going to have to make do without Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for the first leg of the Round of 16 tie as he will be serving a one-match suspension after accumulating three yellow cards in the group phase. The bookings from the group stage do carry over into the knockout round and will only be wiped out after the completion of the quarter-finals.
As both Hojbjerg and Bissouma are unavailable for Tuesday's game against the Rossoneri, Conte will have to choose between one of Oliver Skipp or Pape Matar Sarr to partner Rodrigo Bentancur in the heart of midfield. The young duo have had to settle for minutes here and there since the season started back in August, with Sarr only getting his first taste of action in a Tottenham shirt at the beginning of the year.
Following impressive cameos against Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, as well as on his full debut in the FA Cup win over Portsmouth, the Senegal international was handed a shock start in the North London Derby defeat against Arsenal. A day to forget for the Lilywhites as the Gunners claimed all three points, the former Metz star was a rare shining light for the Lilywhites in his 76 minutes on the pitch.
Sarr has yet to play European football for Tottenham, however, as he was an unused substitute in each of the five occasions in the group stage when he did make the matchday squad. The fact Conte threw him into the North London Derby with only 34 minutes to his name in the Premier League does demonstrate that he has huge faith in the talented 20-year-old.
The AC Milan fixture could also represent a huge opportunity for Skipp to make his case to Conte after such a difficult 12 months through injury. Previously one of the first names on the teamsheet in Conte's first two months in the job before he spent a lengthy period on the sidelines and Bentancur joined from Juventus, the England Under-21 international has only played 392 minutes this term from 13 appearances in all competitions.
Twenty-nine of those did come in the Champions League group phase, with the player showing exactly what he can offer Tottenham when he came on for the final six minutes away at Marseille and putting in a big shift to help the Lilywhites get over the line.
Whoever Conte selects in his Spurs XI on Tuesday evening at the San Siro, both Sarr and Skipp will be raring to go after so little playing time of late. A huge occasion for both and one they can certainly grasp with both hands as they look to finish the campaign strongly, the head coach's final decision may also point to his Tottenham midfield pecking order going forward.
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