Tottenham star Toby Alderweireld ruled out until February

Tottenham expect Toby Alderweireld to be sidelined until the start of February, making him a doubt for a key run of fixtures.

The Belgium international had another scan this week on the hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined since the 3-1 Wembley win over Real Madrid on November 1.

Spurs had originally hoped Alderweireld would be back at the start of 2018 but this morning it emerged the centre-half will miss the first month of next year too.

Tottenham will play consecutive Premier League matches against Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, followed by the Champions League last-16 first-leg tie at the home of Italian champions Juventus in the space of two weeks from January 31.

It means Alderweireld is set to miss the first of those games, which is against United.

Last night, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said he was “confident” of reaching an agreement with Alderweireld over a new contract. The 29-year-old is demanding a significant increase on his £50,000-a-week deal.

Levy was speaking alongside Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino and captain Hugo Lloris at a fans’ forum at the London Academy of Excellence in Tottenham.

Alderweireld’s deal runs until 2019 and while Tottenham have the option of extending it by a further 12 months, that would introduce a £25m release clause that could be activated in the summer of 2019.

Meanwhile, midfielder Victor Wanyama, who has been sidelined since the second match of the season with a knee injury, took part in squad training on Monday.

Tomorrow’s home match against Brighton and the trip to Manchester City on Saturday will come too soon for the Kenyan but the club are hopeful he will be able to play before the heavy schedule of the new year, when Spurs have three matches in five days.