Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Santo will be fearing the worst ahead of the weekend as a concerning update has emerged on the fitness of Eric Dier...

What's the latest?

Spurs will be looking to bounce back from their shock 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace with a result in their London derby against Chelsea on Sunday.

They have a UEFA Europa Conference League clash with Rennes before then but the Portuguese isn't expected to have the English centre-back available for selection as he's a major doubt for the weekend.

That's according to football.london's Alasdair Gold, who provided a fresh update on the 27-year-old's injury in a recent Q&A with supporters.

"The current feeling is that Son (calf) and Dier, who picked up a really bad dead leg at Palace, are struggling to be fit for the Chelsea game," he claimed.

"At least for Dier, it's not the serious longer-term injury it looked at the time. Fingers crossed both improve quicker than expected in the days ahead."

Gutting blow

If this turns out to be the case as the week goes on, then this will come as a frustrating blow to Nuno as his Lilywhites side were swept away by Palace in the absence of Dier, who had started the season in electric form.

It's an even bigger blow if he's absent because Japhet Tanganga will be suspended, whilst both Cristian Romero and Davinson Sanchez will have only just returned to the country, having barely played over the last two weeks.

Indeed, the 45-time England international - who was snubbed from Gareth Southgate's Euro 2020 squad - has been putting in such good performances that he was nominated for the Premier League's Player of the Month award for August after keeping three clean sheets in Spurs' opening three games.

Dier, who is thought to earn around £85k-per-week at the club, had to be withdrawn after just 12 minutes and looked to be in considerable pain as he was helped off the pitch by members of Nuno's medical staff.

Soon after, Spurs crumbled at the back and allowed Wilfried Zaha and goalscoring substitute Odsonne Edouard to run riot at Selhurst Park.

Valued at £19.8m by Transfermarkt, Dier has been described by Gold as having an "excellent start to the season" in recent weeks, whilst in the past, the 6 foot 2 midfielder-turned-defender has been dubbed a "good leader" by Sky Sports' Gary Neville after his performance in another big occasion, a win over arch-rivals Arsenal last season.

It's that sort of presence that will be heavily missed in Nuno's backline come Sunday afternoon.

With Dier also once lauded as "sensational" by former Spurs man Jermaine Jenas, the Portuguese head coach will surely be sweating over the fitness of his first-choice defender heading into the weekend.

This latest update will leave him hugely worried, especially after Saturday's heavy defeat - that's for sure.

AND in other news, Nuno should unleash "special" Spurs teen who's the "whole package", fans would love it...