Tottenham were dealt a major blow as Cristian Romero picked up an injury in the warm-up to rule him out of facing Aston Villa.
The defender was set to captain Spurs at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and joined his team-mates for the usual warm-up.
However, Romero dropped out early and went straight down the tunnel, and Thomas Frank has revealed he suffered a minor adductor injury, playing down its severity.
He told Sky Sports: “Minor adductor injury. He felt a little bit the past few days. We expected him to be fine but he wasn't. I don't think it is too big."
Kevin Danso filled in alongside Micky van de Ven as the back four went through their pre-match preparations, with the centre-backs pinging long passes between each other.
Danso also took part in the set-piece warm-up as confirmation then came that he would replace Romero in the starting lineup. Van de Ven inherited the captain’s armband.
Aston Villa's visit to north London is the first of seven matches Spurs face in the next 22 days, including clashes with Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester United.
Spurs had already been weakened in defence, after Destiny Udogie returned from international duty with a knee issue.
That was described by Frank as "nothing major", but it was not enough to keep him out of the squad entirely against Aston Villa as Djed Spence came into the side.
