Tottenham v. Aston Villa: Ryan Mason could return to starting lineup

Tottenham Hotspur released team news for their upcoming match against Aston Villa at White Hart Lane on Monday and there's not much that's new. Spurs tweeted that midfielders Son Heung-Min, Nabil Bentaleb, Alex Pritchard, Tom Carroll, and Nacer Chadli are still recovering from injury and won't feature against the suddenly Tim Sherwood-less Villains.

Mauricio on TEAM NEWS: "Son is still out, so is @tom_carroll92, @pritch_93, @nabilbentaleb42 & now @NChadli too." pic.twitter.com/cy2bOPA3hx

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 21, 2015

The good news is that Ryan Mason is no longer listed in the injury table, and is presumably back in contention for a place in the starting lineup! It's not clear though what Mauricio Pochettino's plans are for Mason. The central midfield pivot of Eric Dier alongside either Dele Alli or Mousa Dembele has worked pretty darned well the past few weeks and while Mason's return to fitness is good news it may be premature to pencil in Mason as a starter quite yet.

The lack of news on Bentaleb, Carroll, and Son's return is disappointing, but understandable. Last week Pochettino was on record as saying all three of them were "close" to a return, but obviously with the team playing as well as it is at the moment it's better to ensure that they are both healthy and injury free before working them back in.

As for Villa, caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald met with the press today at noon in the UK. While MacDonald didn't directly address any injuries, the Villa injury table lists Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott, and Gary Gardner with "knocks" and out for three days, but it would surprise no one if all three were ready to go against Spurs by Monday. Otherwise, Villa will put out a fully healthy side against Tottenham.