Antonio Conte has confirmed that Rodrigo Bentancur will miss Tottenham’s crunch clash with Leeds this weekend, although he does not believe his ankle injury to be serious.
January signing Bentancur jarred his leg when he slipped on the wet pitch in the early exchanges of Wednesday’s 1-0 Premier League defeat by Burnley at Turf Moor.
The Uruguay international was sent for a scan on Thursday amid fears he could be sidelined for around three weeks.
Quizzed on Bentancur ahead of Saturday’s trip to Elland Road, Spurs boss Conte said: “Unfortunately he’s not available for tomorrow’s game. He had a problem in his ankle.
“I don’t think this is a serious problem and I hope to see him in the team very soon. But for sure tomorrow he’s not available.”
Bentancur has looked good since his January move from Juventus and has made an immediate impression at Tottenham, starting their last three matches.
His injury is a fresh blow for Conte, who has also been without Oliver Skipp since last month after he developed an infection during treatment for a groin injury.
Skipp will also be absent against Leeds, leaving Conte with only Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Winks as natural central midfield options following the January exits of Tanguy Ndombele, Dele Alli and Giovani Lo Celso.
Conte is keen for Spurs’ medical department to find solutions to the issues experienced by Skipp and fellow academy graduate Japhet Tanganga, who has been out for a month with a knee problem.
“He’s another problem,” Conte said of Skipp. “I hope the medical department can help me. Skipp now is one month that he’s missing. It’s the same for Tanganaga and I don’t want to put pressure on the medical department but for sure they can help me solve the situation.”
