Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is optimistic that that he will be able to call on Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris and Harry Winks for the derby clash with Arsenal on Saturday, but Toby Alderweireld's return will have to wait.
Alli, Kane and Winks all pulled out of the England squad for friendlies against Germany and Brazil, while Lloris missed Spurs' last Premier League game against Crystal Palace a fortnight ago with a groin injury.
The quartet took part in training on Thursday and Pochettino is hopeful that they will be fit enough to face their fierce rivals, but Alderweireld will definitely be missing with a hamstring problem.
"I hope we can count on them for the game but still we need to decide, between the medical staff and us," said Pochettino at his pre-match press conference.
"I am happy because, if they can't play Saturday, surely they are close to playing on Tuesday [against Borussia Dortmund] and next weekend [against West Brom]. It is not a big issue like Toby Alderweireld.
"We have one training session more and we also need to assess the players who have come back from the international break. We are optimistic."
TEAM NEWS: (hamstring), (knee), Hugo Lloris (groin), (knee) & (ankle) have returned to full training for the first time today. November 16, 2017
On Alderweireld's injury the news is not so positive, with Pochettino revealing the Belgium international is unlikely to feature until January.
"Toby is out. We need to assess him," he added.
"We expect he will be out for longer than we did previously. Maybe [he will be back] after Christmas. That is the expectation.
"Always, with this type of injury, we have to be cautious. We need to wait."
‘I don’t think Liverpool would look at Ollie Watkins, a striker isn’t a pressing issue for them – it’s Arsenal who need one’ Former Reds star explains why his old club don’t need an out-and-out forward this summer
‘He’ll still be playing at 40 at a good level because he’s in such good shape and looks after himself so well. He does everything to be a top professional’: Ex-Liverpool coach insists Mohamed Salah has plenty more miles in the tank
