Tottenham Hotspur will be without goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for six to eight weeks after he suffered ligament damage during last Sunday's 1-0 victory over Manchester City.
Lloris, 36, helped keep the champions at bay as striker Harry Kane scored his 267th goal for Spurs to earn all three points and break the club's goalscoring record, surpassing the legendary Jimmy Greaves. With Tottenham on a run of five wins from seven matches, manager Antonio Conte will now have to deal with the absence of his long-standing goalkeeper.
Lloris doesn't require an operation to treat the injury, but will miss an extended and important period of games in Spurs' season. Summer signing Fraser Forster, who's made only one Premier League appearance for the Lilywhites, is poised to step up and act as No.1 in Lloris' absence.
Forster, formerly of Celtic and Southampton, will face a challenging time between the posts, as Tottenham compete in three competitions over the next month. The 34-year-old and his team-mates firstly travel to Leicester City on Sunday before a trip to AC Milan in the Champions League next Tuesday.
Spurs then welcome West Ham prior to another London derby at home to fierce rivals Chelsea. Then comes a visit to Championship promotion-chasers Sheffield United in the FA Cup firth round before travelling to a resurgent Wolves.
The all-important second leg clash with AC Milan comes next, and by then Conte's side will know how many chances at silverware they'll have for the remainder of the season. Lloris' injury also means that Kane will don the captain's armband.
Added to the Frenchman's absence is the fact that boss Conte is yet to return to action after undergoing surgery to remove his gallbladder. Just as the Italian manager's future at the club is uncertain, with his contract expiring in June, so is Lloris'.
Tottenham have been linked with a move for Everton and England shot-stopper Jordan Pickford, with Lloris having made a string of errors this season such as in January's North London derby defeat to archenemies Arsenal. He has a deal with Spurs until 2024 and no intention to leave beforehand, especially having retired from international duty following the World Cup.
Conte recently backed the record-capped France icon to recover his form, describing Lloris as "one of the best 'keepers in the world." "In this situation it's always difficult, I think that it's not positive to be focused on only one situation or two situation," the Lilywhites boss declared.
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"Football, I know is this, and sometimes you can do positive and save many situations positively, but honestly I consider Hugo one of the best 'keepers in the world and it can happen.
"It can happen that sometimes you can make a mistake. For sure when there is the mistake of the keeper it is more visible.
"Hugo for us is a one of the players who is really important for the dressing room, for his personality because we are talking about a player who is one of the best keepers in the world."
