Antonio Conte Confirms Injury List Ahead Of AC Milan Vs Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has confirmed his unavailable players for this evening’s Champions League last-16 tie against Italian giants AC Milan.

This evening, Spurs take on Stefano Pioli’s AC Milan at the San Siro in the first-leg of their Champions League last-16 time.

The sides last met in the competition back in 2010/11, also in the last-16. Only one goal seperated them across two legs, with Peter Crouch netting the winner late-on in the second-leg.

Ahead of the tie, first-team coach Antonio Conte spoke to the press, where he confirmed his unavailable players for the fixture.

Rodrigo Bentancur

On Monday morning, Tottenham confirmed that Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur would miss the rest of the season, after rupturing his ACL in Spurs’ 4-1 loss to Leicester City.

The 25-year-old looks set for a long spell on the sidelines, as the club confirmed in a statement.

“We can confirm that Rodrigo Bentancur has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.” Spurs said in the statement.

“[He] will be out of action for the remainder of the campaign.

“The midfielder will undergo surgery before beginning his rehabilitation with our medical staff.”

His injury comes as a major blow for Conte’s side. Bentancur started all six of Tottenham’s group stage matches, as well as netting a crucial goal to secure a point against Sporting.

We can confirm that Rodrigo Bentancur has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will be out of action for the remainder of the campaign.

He will undergo surgery before beginning his rehabilitation with our medical staff.

We're all behind you, Rodrigo 💙 pic.twitter.com/Jfk6oUScHm

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 13, 2023

Hugo Lloris

Club-captain Hugo Lloris is another absentee. The Frenchman is set to miss out on the next six to eight weeks with a knee injury sustained against Manchester City.

Scans have shown ligament damage, but the 36-year-old is not expected to need surgery.

Assistant coach Cristian Stellini confirmed the stopper’s injury ahead of their Premier League trip to Leicester.

“At the moment, we know we have a big loss, Hugo will miss maybe the next six weeks. However, we also know very well that we have a good, experienced goalkeeper, and we trust in Fraser Forster, who has experience in the Premier League, experience in the Champions League. We are disappointed for Hugo, sad, but we trust in all the players we have.”

English goalkeeper Fraser Forster is expected to deputise, in what would be his first Champions League appearance since 2014/15.

Ryan Sessegnon

Wing-back Ryan Sessegnon is another confirmed to be missing out through injury.

After missing out on the trip to Leicester, it is believed that the 22-year-old is set to miss the next month at the very minimum.

Sessegnon picked up the injury in training, at Tottenham’s Enfield HQ.

Yves Bissouma

Tottenham have confirmed that Mali-international midfielder Yves Bissouma is set for an extended period on the sidelines.

The 26-year-old has undergone surgery to repair a stress fracture to his left-ankle.

A club statement read: “We can confirm that Yves Bissouma is to undergo surgery on Friday to repair a stress fracture to his left ankle.