Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario will undergo hernia surgery after Sunday’s game against Nottingham Forest, with his potential absence opening the door for Antonin Kinsky to return following his Atletico Madrid horror show.
Spurs confirmed on Friday that Vicario will have a “minor procedure timed to have as minimal impact on the season as possible” and “it is hoped that he could return to action within the next month”.
Sky Sports News understands he is available for selection in Sunday’s crunch relegation six-pointer against Forest, live on Sky Sports.
It is also understood that the 29-year-old has been playing through the pain barrier for several weeks with the issue.
Vicario’s stats since joining Spurs
But the Italy international will face a race to be fit for Spurs’ next game after Forest, which is against Sunderland on April 12, live on Sky Sports.
If Vicario fails to recover in time for that match at the Stadium of Light, then Kinsky could start after he was embarrassingly substituted after just 17 minutes in the 5-2 Champions League last 16 first-leg defeat at Atletico Madrid earlier this month.
Kinsky, who was taken off in Spain following two errors which saw Spurs go 3-0 down after just 15 minutes, failed to make this month’s Czech Republic squad for their upcoming World Cup play-off campaign, meaning he will remain at Spurs for the March international break.
Spurs’ goalkeepers analysed
Vicario was also a notable absentee from the Italy squad announced on Friday for this month’s international fixtures.
Spurs boss Igor Tudor faced the media later on Friday and confirmed there were no fresh injury problems, but the struggling Premier League club have now revealed Vicario’s surgery ahead of Sunday’s visit of 17th-placed Forest, who are only one point behind Tottenham.
What did Tudor say about Kinsky?
Last week, Tudor defended his man-management skills and revealed he hugged Kinsky after his early substitution in Madrid.
Tudor explained: “When you do that substitution after 15 minutes, the coach loses in both cases.
“First case, because you put him in so everyone says, ‘why are you doing this? You killed the guy.’ If you don’t, you are taking risk to concede one or two more goals.
“I took the decision after thinking and if I needed to, I would do the same again. It was an act of helping to preserve the guy and to preserve the team.
“Why didn’t I go to give him a hug? Because maybe he was angry. Maybe coaches do the things to avoid this scene and to get a situation worse than it was.
“Sometimes it is better to stay there and we hug each other at half-time. At half-time we speak and nothing [more], the situation happened there. It finished there.”
Asked if he did give a shell-shocked Kinsky a hug at half-time, Tudor insisted: “Of course.”
Tudor then backed Kinsky to have the “strength and quality” to bounce back.
Tudor: Maddison could return before end of season | ‘Solanke fit for Forest’
Tudor revealed during Friday’s press conference ahead of the Forest game that long-term absentee James Maddison could return from his ACL injury before the end of the season.
Sunday 22nd March 2:00pm
Kick off 2:15pm
Maddison has not played a minute this campaign after sustaining a knee injury in pre-season.
Asked whether Maddison could return before the end of the season, he replied: “Yeah.
“Maddison’s already doing interesting things with the ball, sprinting as well. I saw him, he’s positive.”
There was also good news regarding Dominic Solanke’s availability for the match against Forest.
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Paul Merson shares his thoughts on the enormity of Tottenham’s Premier League match against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
The striker had missed training on Friday but Tudor says he will be fit to face Forest at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after he missed the midweek Champions League home win over Atletico Madrid.
The Croatian said: “Dom didn’t train, but probably tomorrow he will train with the team and be available.
“He had a problem with his hip, so I think he’ll be okay.”
Spurs’ absentee list has eased a little this week with the return of Lucas Bergvall and Destiny Udogie from injuries, and Mohammed Kudus and Rodrigo Bentancur could be next to return, with Tottenham hvaing a three-week break after Sunday’s Forest game.
On Kudus’ return, Tudor said: “I don’t know, probably some part of things with the squad in maybe 10 days.
“I’m not sure, we need to check, but he’s progressing very well already with the ball.
“Rodrigo as well, Maddison as well.
“We hope the medical staff make us some nice surprises in the next weeks – it would be very important to have them.”
But the ex-Juventus boss did not have a firm update on Dejan Kulusevski’s return.
Bridge: Vicario putting club before himself
Sky Sports’ Michael Bridge:
“Spurs will have three weeks between the Nottingham Forest game and their next match against Sunderland, so they think the timing is the right one. And of course, it’s admirable that he’s been playing through the pain barrier, but is it potentially impeding him a little bit? Only Vicario knows.
“He will be in contention to play Nottingham Forest in that huge game on Sunday.
“With the information we’ve been given that he’s available for Sunday, it doesn’t necessarily mean he will start. He might wake up in pain, but he is in contention, and the messages we’re getting from Tottenham are that he’s had quite a bit of pain recently, but he’s putting the club and the team first.”
