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Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Giovani Lo Celso won’t be playing on Thursday against Dinamo Zagreb.

Spurs face Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb tomorrow night in the first leg of a Europa League Round of 16 tie.

Spurs, who thrashed Wolfsberger 8-1 on aggregate in the previous round, are one of the favourites for the European competition.

Meanwhile, Thursday’s opponents were impressive beating Krasnodar 4-2 on aggregate in the previous round.

Mourinho announced in his Wednesday press conference that Spurs will still be without Lo Celso in midweek.

The £27million (BBC) attacking midfielder has been back in training after a couple of months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, but a small minor back problem will keep him out against Dinamo Zagreb.

“Gio is not ready but it’s nothing to do with his previous important injury, from which he’s totally recovered. But with his accumulation of work his feelings are not the best at the moment, a little bit of some back pain so he’s had to stop working the way he was doing. So not for this match,” Mourinho said, as quoted by Football London.

TBR’s View:

Spurs fans haven’t seen Lo Celso in action since mid-December and he’s been pictured heavily in training recently.

Unfortunately, he’s still not in contention on Wednesday and supporters will hope soon.

He’s another option in the squad that can add some extra attacking spark when he plays in the midfield, scoring five goals in just 19 games across all competitions this season.

Spurs do have plenty of goals in their team right now though, especially as Gareth Bale has hit a purple patch of form.