Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele suffers injury setback but Harry Kane set for training return

Tottenham return to action this Saturday against West Bromwich Albion, with mixed injury news for two of their most important players

Mousa Dembele has suffered an injury setback for Tottenham (Getty)

Mousa Dembele has suffered a recurrence of an injury to his left foot, setting him back on his return from hamstring trouble. The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has only made two appearances all season. While Maurico Pochettino had hoped to welcome him back for Saturday’s trip to West Bromwich Albion, his recovery has been slowed by another knock in training.

Dembele was arguably Spurs’ best player last season and Pochettino recently joked that his Tottenham team “do not exist” without him. But Dembele missed the first four games of the season with a ban for his eye-gouging on Diego Costa last May. When he was eligible again, Pochettino brought Dembele on for the second half of Spurs’ 2-1 defeat to Monaco at Wembley on 14 September.

But when Pochettino started Dembele for the first time, four days later, he tweaked a hamstring and had to limp off. Just as he had recovered from that particular injury, Dembele was kicked on the top of his left foot in training. At the start of last season Dembele missed five weeks with the same injury, and he is now struggling with the same problem.

“His hamstring was good, but he got a knock on his foot, an old problem, and now he is recovering from that,” Pochettino explained earlier. “It is minor, but it’s painful for him. When he touches the ball, it’s painful for him.”

There was better news, though, regarding Harry Kane, who is making good progress on his way back from an ankle ligament injury sustained last month. Kane will return to light training next week and Spurs are hopeful that he will be able to return for the Arsenal game on Sunday 6 November, seven weeks after he sustained the injury.

“At the end of this week, he can start to train on the grass a little,” Pochettino said. “He's very positive, he's doing well. We don't know when he'll play again. Next week we hope he'll be

training on the pitch, not with the group, but we're happy.”