‘Not available’: Conte says ‘unbelievable’ Tottenham star won’t be playing v Aston Villa

Sat 31 December 2022 7:15, UK

Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has confirmed that Rodrigo Bentancur isn’t available for Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Aston Villa.

The Spurs midfielder picked up an injury at the World Cup playing for Uruguay.

Ahead of the match, Conte hinted that Bentancur could be set for a longer absence than what was initially suggested.

“Rodrigo, I think we have to wait,” he told on Friday.

“Maybe today he is going to have an MRI to try to have an evaluation about his injury.

“For sure tomorrow against Villa, he’s not available.

“He had an injury in the World Cup and also the timing is more long than my expectation.

“This question is more for the medical department than me.”

Anxious wait

Bad news for Bentancur and Tottenham.

The ‘unbelievable‘ midfielder was initially tipped to be back for the Brentford game.

As per , Bentancur tore an adductor muscle in the World Cup group-stage meeting with Ghana.

The issue was expected to rule him out for three weeks, but this obviously hasn’t proven the case.

And if he’s having an MRI scan, this means the problem is more significant than first thought.

Conte didn’t put a timescale on a potential return either, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

It wasn’t all bad news for Tottenham, however. Cristian Romero is back against Villa.

The defender missed Spurs’ Premier League return against Brentford after being given time off following Argentina’s World Cup win.

With Tottenham conceding two soft goals against the Bees, Romero’s return to the back line is a welcome boost for Conte.