Antonio Conte has been dealt a huge injury blow concerning Tottenham Hotspur right-back Matt Doherty.
What's the latest?
That's according to Alasdair Gold, with the football.london journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that the 30-year-old now looks set to be ruled out for the remainder of the season after sustaining a knee injury in the 4-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.
In his tweet, Gold said: "Understand it's bad news for Matt Doherty and Antonio Conte. The Irishman is out for the rest of Spurs' season and more."
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Conte will be fuming
Considering how impressive Doherty has been for Conte since his arrival in north London last November, the news that the right-back looks set to be ruled out for the remainder of 2021/22 is sure to have left the 52-year-old manager fuming.
Indeed, after being used sparingly over the Italian's first 11 Premier League fixtures in charge of the club - starting just once in these games - the £10.8m-rated full-back looked to have gained Conte's favour over the club's last ten league outings - starting all but two of these fixtures, being given the nod from the off in the last seven consecutive top-flight matches.
It is not difficult to understand why this was the case, as the £74k-per-week defender was beginning to show the sort of form that convinced Spurs to part with £14.7m to bring him to north London back in August 2020 - with the Irishman having scored two goals and registered four assists over his last 11 Premier League fixtures.
However, following Gold's latest update, it would now appear as if the former Wolverhampton Wanderers full-back's campaign has been brought to a premature end, something that - considering just how close the race to secure a top-four spot currently is - will undoubtedly come as a huge blow to Conte and his side.
AND in other news: Conte could land Spurs' next Poyet as contact made for "sensational" £83.5m "talent"