Thomas Frank confirms Mohammed Kudus out until April in huge Tottenham injury blow | OneFootball

Tottenham’s dwindling midfield options have taken a mammoth blow after Thomas Frank confirmed Mohammed Kudus will be sidelined until April with injury.

Kudus went down with a thigh injury in last weekend’s draw with Sunderland, with Frank revealing the problem involves a tendon in his quad and will therefore require a lengthy period of rehabilitation.

"Mohammed Kudus unfortunately is a bigger one to the tendon in the quad,” he said ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup tie with Aston Villa. “That is one where we expect him back after the March international break."

Kudus, who arrived from West Ham for £55m in the summer, has scored two goals and registered five assists in the Premier League this season.

Frank also revealed that Rodrigo Bentancur’s hamstring “looks like a bigger one” and that Lucas Bergvall will be assessed ahead of the clash.

Asked on the long-term absence of Dejan Kulusevski, the Dane dampened optimism that he would be available in the near future, with the Swedish midfielder yet to play a minute for Spurs this term due to a serious knee injury.

"We know it is a complicated injury,” he added. “If there is one person who can accelerate that (recovery) it is Dejan, who is a top pro and has a top mentality. The most important thing is to remove the pain in the knee.

"He had an injection to help that 10 days ago. We will know in 3-4 weeks if that has settled. And when it has settled, hopefully, he will be on the grass and from there, we will see what is happening."

Dejan Kulusevski underwent surgery last year on his right knee (John Walton/PA) (PA Wire)

Frank was able to provide more positive news regarding striker Dominic Solanke and left-back Destiny Udogie, who are back in training and “getting closer”.

Beyond injuries, the Tottenham boss was probed on the drama created by captain Cristian Romero’s social media post appearing to take aim at the club’s hierarchy in the aftermath of Wednesday’s deflating stoppage-time loss at Bournemouth.

Frank revealed himself and co-sporting director Lange had spoke to Romero on Thursday.

"I said it when I named him the captain that even though he's an experienced player, he's tried a lot, he's still a young leader. And I think a lot of the things he's done well on and off the pitch, I'm happy with," Frank explained.

"But also when you're a young leader sometimes you make a mistake, of course it's good to keep it internally.