Journalist Dean Jones has claimed that Fraser Forster could be in line to make his Tottenham Hotspur debut this weekend due to Hugo Lloris’ injury.
It has been a pretty worrying time for Antonio Conte and Tottenham over the international break, with Ivan Perisic giving the Italian an injury scare, and even more worryingly, captain Lloris was forced to pull out of the France squad due to his own fitness concerns.
With a huge north London derby on the horizon this Saturday, Conte can ill afford to have his captain and No 1 ‘keeper unavailable – mainly because of his leadership, experience and also the fact that he’s been in stupendous form, making top-class saves against the likes of Fulham and Sporting in recent weeks.
However, Conte will have an experienced Premier League shot-stopper to call upon if Lloris isn’t fit enough in the form of Forster, who was only signed this summer.
Speaking on the Chasing Green Arrows YouTube channel, Jones said: “So he’s been back at Tottenham’s training ground undergoing a little bit of rehab basically, a little bit of work to try and see whether they can get him fit in time for that first game back.
“If Lloris can’t get fit, then Fraser Forster will be in goal for Tottenham, it’ll be his debut. So this is one to look out for. We’ll find out probably know Thursday if Lloris is going to be fit – that’s when we should have a better indication of how he is.
Will Lloris play on Saturday?
Yes!
No!
“It wasn’t a bad, bad injury; it was a small problem. So they’ve always been hopeful that because they got him back quickly and have been able to work on him, he should be alright. But, if there’s a risk, there’s a risk – and they won’t be able to take it in a game like that.
“And it would mean that Forster – one of those famous seven signings that were supposed to be so great at the start of the season – makes his debut in a massive, massive fixture.”
TIF Thoughts on Forster’s potential debut…
While Conte and Spurs fans will now be thankful they landed someone of Forster’s experience in the summer transfer window to provide them with a solid deputy in the short term, they will be praying Lloris is fit enough to play this weekend against Arsenal.
Lloris is enjoying a solid season between the sticks for Spurs, having racked up the fourth-best save percentage of any goalkeeper in the league – with the three above him all from sides that way outside of the top six and naturally facing more shots per game.
Spurs are indeed the early kick-off on Saturday afternoon, meaning Lloris’ time to show his fitness is a lot shorter than usual which won’t be ideal for Conte or the Frenchman, but given how early he pulled out of the France squad, Tottenham may yet be confident of getting him out on the pitch for a crucial game.