(Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dejan Kulusevski has been ruled out of Saturday’s Premier League game at home to Everton and is doubtful for next week’s trip to Manchester United as he has yet to recover from a hamstring injury, manager Antonio Conte said.
Kulusevski has not played for Tottenham since sustaining the injury on international duty with Sweden last month, missing four games in all competitions for the London club.
The 22-year-old was expected to return for Saturday’s game after he resumed training in midweek before their Champions League match, but Conte said he is not 100% fit.
“I think we need to have a bit of patience with (Kulusevski). Don’t take stupid risks. We have to play a lot of games from now until November,” Conte told reporters on Friday.
Asked whether Kulusevski would recover in time for their visit to Old Trafford on Oct. 19, Conte said, “In this moment, honestly, it is a bit difficult to answer yes or not.
“It depends on the new MRI he did today and about what the doctors say about his situation. Also the feeling of the player.
“Because in this situation it is important to respect the feeling of the player, because the player has to feel 100%, otherwise it’s not good to take stupid risks.”
Tottenham are third in the league on 20 points after nine matches, four points off leaders Arsenal. They have won all their four home games this season and will be hoping to maintain their record when they host Everton, who are 12th on 10 points.
“Everton is a really good team with a really good manager, Frank Lampard is showing to be a really good manager,” Conte said. “They’re showing great stability, especially defensively.
“We played only two days ago and we lost a lot of mental energy because the Champions League is a fantastic competition to play but you lose a lot of energy in this competition.
“I think we are ready to play a good game.”
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
