'Not available': Conte confirms 'sensational' Tottenham star won't be playing tomorrow

By Giuseppe Labellarte

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has confirmed that Dejan Kulusevski won’t be involved for Spurs this weekend.

The Tottenham boss admitted he was worried about the 22-year-old, whose injury situation “worsened” as he was on the road to recovery.

Kulusevski has not played for Spurs since the win over Leicester in September after injuring his hamstring on international duty with Sweden.

Conte, speaking to football.london ahead of Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Newcastle, said the forward’s recovery was initially going well, but then he suffered a setback.

Now, the Tottenham manager is unsure whether Kulusevski will be back until after the World Cup ends in December.

“Deki Kulusevski is not available,” said Conte. “I think we have to wait a bit of time to see him with us.”

When asked whether he was worried Kulusevski may not be available until after the World Cup, he said: “Yeah.

“His recovery was going well and then one day the situation worsened.

“When this happens you have to restart. You need time, you need time.

“We have the medical department to face injury situations and they have to face it in a short period.

“If you are good to solve it in a quick way then it can mean points.”

Bad news

Losing Kulusevski to a potentially long-term injury is pretty devastating for Spurs, no doubt about it.

He is a “sensational” player who makes a huge difference when he’s in the Tottenham line-up.

But as much as Conte needs Kulusevski back, it would be worse if he rushed him back and he aggravated his injury.

The way things are going, maybe the mid-season World Cup could prove a blessing in disguise.

Hopefully by the time the tournament is over, Kulusevski will be back to full fitness and able to help Spurs impress in the second half of the campaign.