Alasdair Gold has dropped a teasing injury update concerning Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier.
What's the latest?
In a recent article for football.london, the Tottenham correspondent suggested that Eric Dier, who has missed four of Spurs' last five Premier League fixtures with a thigh injury, could be set for a return to first-team action when Antonio Conte's side make the trip to table-topping Manchester City this weekend.
Regarding whether or not Joe Rodon could be given a shot in the starting XI on Saturday, Gold wrote: 'Dier's potential return from his thigh injury for the City match could close a window of opportunity that never really seemed to exist for Rodon.'
Conte will be buzzing
Considering just how important Dier has been to Conte's three-man defence so far this season, the news that the 28-year-old looks as if he could once again be available for selection this weekend is sure to have left the Spurs boss buzzing.
Indeed, over his 19 Premier League appearances in the current campaign, the £19.8m-rated centre-back has helped his side to keep eight clean sheets, along with making 0.8 interceptions, 0.3 tackles, 3.7 clearances and 51.3 passes and winning 2.7 duels (at a success rate of 55%) per game.
These returns have seen the £92k-per-week defender average an impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.00, ranking him as Tottenham's 10th-best performer in the top flight.
Furthermore, under Conte's management, Spurs have conceded six goals in nine Premier League fixtures with Dier in the team, while they have shipped seven in three games without the England international.
As such, with Spurs facing a team who have scored a joint league-high 61 goals over their 25 league outings - an average of 2.44 per game - in Pep Guardiola's City this weekend, it is clear to see that the return of Dier would come as a huge boost to Spurs' chances of leaving the Etihad Stadium with a positive result on Saturday.
In other news: Conte could unearth his next Bastoni by unleashing "flawless" £12.5m-rated Spurs gem