Tottenham suffer huge James Maddison injury blow as Ange Postecoglou confirms lengthy absence

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that James Maddison will be out until January at the earliest.

The 26-year-old midfielder, who has been one of Tottenham's standout performers this season following his £40 million move from Leicester, suffered a nasty-looking ankle injury during Monday's Premier League clash against Chelsea.

And after withdrawing from Gareth Southgate's latest England squad, it appears Maddison will miss several weeks of action with suspected ankle ligament damage.

"He got quite a significant ankle injury the other night and was sent for scans," Postecoglou said in Friday's press conference. "It wasn't great, so he'll be out for a period of time, probably into the new year as well."

Postecoglou also confirmed that defender Micky Van de Ven is unlikely to play again this year after he went down with a hamstring problem just before half-time in their 4-1 defeat to Chelsea.

“Van de Ven will be out for couple of months, looking to the New Year," the Spurs boss added.

Speaking on the injuries suffered against Chelsea and whether VAR stoppages can potentially lead to muscle injuries, Postecoglou said: "Absolutely. I am not going to draw a direct correlation to Micky's injury but I was half-tempted to throw some balls out there for them to kick around.

"It's the reason we have warm-ups but if you're going into a game, the fact there was only 47 minutes of game time the other night in whatever it was, 110, that is not ideal for the type of athletes we have out there."

Spurs' injury woes will concern Postecoglou as they sit one point behind reigning champions Manchester City in the title race. Maddison and Van de Ven join Richarlison, Ivan Perisic, Manor Solomon and Ben Davies on the sidelines.

Pedro Porro and Ryan Sessegnon, meanwhile, are close to making a return after being spotted in light training.

Spurs may have to spend big in January if they want to mount a serious title charge.

On the pitch, they will make the 111-mile trip to Molineux this weekend when they come up against Wolves, who sit 14th in the Premier League ladder.