Tottenham suffer fresh blow as Cristian Romero injured in warm-ups ahead of Aston Villa clash | OneFootball

Spurs’ captain was forced to drop out of the squad less than 20 minutes ahead of kick-off

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Tottenham were dealt a major blow as Cristian Romero picked up an injury in the warm-up to rule him out of facing Aston Villa.

Kevin Danso filled in alongside Micky van de Ven as the back four went through their pre-match preparations, with the centre-backs pinging long passes between each other.

Danso also took part in the set-piece warm-up as confirmation then came that he would replace Romero in the starting lineup. Van de Ven inherited the captain’s armband.

Thomas Frank will provide an update on Romero's injury after the match but Spurs will be desperately hoping it is not a significant problem.

Aston Villa's visit to north London is the first of seven matches Spurs face in the next 22 days, including clashes with Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Spurs had already been weakened in defence, after Destiny Udogie returned from international duty with a knee issue.

That was described by Frank as "nothing major", but it was not enough to keep him out of the squad entirely against Aston Villa as Djed Spence came into the side.