Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt yet another injury setback ahead of their Premier League clash with Watford on Saturday.
What's the latest?
In recent comments cited by football.london, manager Antonio Conte revealed that winger Steven Bergwijn missed out on Spurs' 1-1 draw with Southampton on Tuesday afternoon as the 24-year-old forward was suffering from a calf strain picked up in the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace last weekend.
The 52-year-old went on to state that, as a result of this knock, the Netherlands international looks as if he will remain sidelined for the visit of Watford on Saturday afternoon, as the player will need more time to recover before returning to first-team football.
When asked whether Bergwijn was injured for the Saints game, Conte said: "Yeah, yeah. During the game against Crystal Palace, he felt a problem in his calf. Yeah, he was injured. Together with [Giovanni] Lo Celso and [Cristian] Romero and [Ryan] Sessegnon."
The Italian was then asked whether the winger would be back for Watford, to which he replied: "I don't think so. He has a muscular problem and he needs to recover more time than 10 days or only a week."
Conte will be livid
As we are well and truly in the thick of the busiest period of the Premier League calendar, with Spurs having at least six fixtures to play between now and the end of January - with the potential of more being scheduled due to earlier postponements - the news that Bergwijn will be unable to feature against Watford is sure to come as a huge blow to Conte, as well as leaving the manager livid.
Indeed, with the 52-year-old recently revealing that he considers the forward as a backup to Harry Kane - currently Tottenham's only recognised centre-forward - something that is evidenced by Bergwijn replacing the 28-year-old at Selhurst Park last week, the Dutchman's injury severely limits the Italian's options should he wish to give the England captain a rest in the club's upcoming games.
Furthermore, with the likes of Lo Celso, Romero and Sessegnon already in the Tottenham Hotspur treatment room, a fresh injury is the last thing Conte needs heading into 2022, as the former Inter Milan manager will need as many of his first-team squad fit and firing as possible if he is to have any chance of guiding Spurs to a top-four finish in the league this season.
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