Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed Son Heung-min suffered a muscle injury in the North London derby defeat to Arsenal – making the forward a doubt for the trip to Aston Villa. Mourinho could not put a timeframe on Son’s injury in the post match press conference but said it was a result of the 28-year-old playing too much football.
Jose Mourinho said: “I don’t know how long it is. It’s muscular. Muscular is usually not easy. He’s normally a guy who recovers quickly. It’s an accumulation of matches. I gave him 30 minutes rest in the last match, but it’s still 60 minutes.”
Dean Smith is also sweating on the fitness of Bertrand Traore, who was involved in a nasty-looking collision with a barrier at St James’ Park during the 1-1 draw against Newcastle on Friday. He lost a physical battle to Newcastle defender Paul Dummett and Traore’s momentum required him to hurdle an advertising hoarding but he appeared to slip on landing and fell into a barrier at the bottom of the Gallowgate end.
Dean Smith said: “I’m not sure how he is yet. He went over billboards by accident and hurt himself and the pain meant he was unable to continue. He’s been a big player this season so we’ll just see and wait how he is.”