Tottenham interim manager Ryan Mason has confirmed that Hugo Lloris will miss the rest of the season after missing the last two games.
The injury is a huge blow to Spurs' Champions League hopes. Lloris has not played since the 6-1 defeat away at Newcastle United after being forced off at half-time with a muscle injury.
"Hugo's out for the season," Mason said on Friday. "We had the results back. Obviously disappointing, but we kind of feared that initially. We did some more tests and he won't play for us again this season.
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"I can't speak about next season but what I can say is that he has a very important role for us until the end of the season. We need him. We need to be a part of the group and I'm sure he will be."
As well as the Lloris blow, there was bad news regarding Ryan Sessegnon. The wing-back has not played since the 1-0 win over Manchester City at the start of February after picking up a hamstring injury. "Ryan had a significant injury, he's been out for a long time so Ryan won't feature again this season," Mason confirmed.
Elsewhere, there was positive news concerning Emerson Royal's recovery. The Brazilian wing-back underwent surgery on the meniscus in his knee during March's international break after appearing for Brazil against Morocco.
Spurs are understood to have noted this weekend's game against Crystal Palace as a potential return date, or failing that the trip to Aston Villa next Saturday. "Emerson I think it is a day to day check on how he is and how he's coping," Mason explained. "Hopefully Emerson can help us between now and end of the season."
Midfield duo Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur are the two long-term absentees and have been out for some time. However, for the first time in a while, Mason was able to provide a brief update on the pair. On Bentancur, the Spurs' interim boss said: "These types of injuries you have to be very careful with. We see sometimes they can reoccur. We're assessing him day by day. He's making progress but it's probably too early to set a return date."
Asked if Bissouma could return before the end of the season, Mason replied: "We hope so. There are obviously some hurdles he has got to overcome and to hit some certain goals but we are hopeful he will appear before the end of the season."
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