Tottenham's Alderweireld ruled out until next year

Tottenham Hotspur's Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld will be missing until next year with a hamstring injury, manager Mauricio Pochettino said Thursday. Alderweireld, who suffered the injury during the first half of Tottenham's Champions League victory against Real Madrid, was already ruled out of Saturday's Premier League derby at Arsenal. The severity of his injury, however, is an unexpected blow.

BREAKING: Mauricio Pochettino confirms Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld will be out until the New Year with hamstring injury. #SSN pic.twitter.com/qy6h2D7ico

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 16, 2017

"He's out until after Christmas," Pochettino told reporters. "He feels disappointed but he's trying to focus on his recovery and the first stage of the rehabilitation. "Always with this kind of injury we have to be cautious."

It's a blow for Spurs.

Toby Alderweireld could be sidelined until after Christmas.https://t.co/lvcZIPLEn8 pic.twitter.com/osZRopMUMw— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 16, 2017

Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Harry Winks, who all withdrew from the England squad for friendly internationals against Germany and Brazil, trained Thursday, although Pochettino refused to say whether they would all play. "We need to assess them again," he said. Tottenham are third in the table, four points above Arsenal, but are yet to win at the Emirates since Pochettino took over in 2014, all three games ending in 1-1 draws.