“Hit on his hip”- Conte casts doubts on key Tottenham star’s return yo action this season | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur dealt injury blow as Cristian Romero could be out for the rest of this season

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a damning injury blow as Cristian Romero could be ruled out for the rest of this season. Antonio Conte had confirmed that matter just ahead of their North London derby against Arsenal in the Premier League.

Romero was not included in the matchday squad just before the league fixture as Tottenham beat their bitter rivals 3-0 without their star defender. Davinson Sanchez was brought back to the starting lineup after quite a long time as he formed the backline alongside Eric Dier and Ben Davies.

Speaking ahead of the derby (h/t Football.London), Conte had revealed that Romero had suffered a blow to his hip during the 1-1 draw against Liverpool. He continued by saying that the centre-back was still suffering from pain and was not able to recover in time.

Antonio Conte is concerned about Cristian Romero’s availability. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Concern for Spurs?

What makes matters worse for us is how the Italian manager also cast doubts on the Argentine centre-back’s availability before the end of this campaign. That is a really concerning update for us, especially when we have firmly placed ourselves in contention to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

The fans were worried when they saw Romero being an absentee from the squad. Sanchez has been out of the team for quite some time, and throwing him into such an important fixture out of the blue did cause concerns among many supporters. Fortunately, the former Ajax man rose to the challenge and dropped a solid display on the night.

Davinson Sanchez was brought back into the starting lineup. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

That being said, Romero’s absence was felt throughout the game as we often struggled during build-up due to the lack of progression from the back. Rob Holding’s early red card made it easier for us in the derby, but one may wonder if this issue persists in the remaining two league fixtures.

Sanchez is given a massive opportunity to make a case for himself before the summer transfer window. The Colombian was linked with an exit from N17 about a week ago, so this could perhaps be the final chance to secure a spot in Conte’s plans.

Romero’s situation also means that we only have Joe Rodon left as an option in the defence, which puts us in a dire situation. As such, we would hope that the former could return before the end of this term but let’s wait and see how this situation would pan out in the coming days.