Ange Postecoglou has confirmed Tottenham will be without Heung-min Son against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.
Son has missed the past two Spurs games with a tight hamstring and the South Korean is still not ready to return.
But Spurs hope Son will be fit to face Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.
Postecoglou said on Tuesday: “Son is almost fit but probably from our perspective we'll aim for the weekend.
“We're quite confident he'll be right for the weekend."
Son’s continued absence against City is a blow for Spurs, who will be looking to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The Spurs captain has a brilliant record against City, having scored eight goals in 19 appearances against them.
Asked about the idea of deploying Richarlison on the left as cover, the Spurs boss added: “I think Richy has obviously played a lot of his football on the left and he's definitely an option there for us and an option through the middle as well.
“He's getting some good match minutes now so hopefully next couple of weeks we've still got a good game schedule. Like I said, he's only just getting his season started so the more we can expose him without overburdening him in the early stages he'll be able to contribute even more.”
