Another Spurs midfielder withdraws from international duty

Algeria lost two important players for the upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifier against Lesotho. Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nabil Bentaleb and Valencia's Sofiane Feghouli both withdrew from the squad. Bentaleb has been struggling for form early in the season for Spurs, but really seemed to come into his own against Everton last weekend.

Down the stretch of the Everton match, however, Bentaleb took quite a few knocks, several stemming from some agressive challenges from Everton substitute Steven Naismith. One saw the Scottish attacker knee Bentaleb in the small of his back during an aerial challenge. Bentaleb seemed to come off a little worse for wear from those challenges, but finished off the 90 minutes.

There doesn't seem to be an indication that Bentaleb is injured, but that seems to be the most likely reason for him to stay in England. It's either that or he really isn't bothered by his country's match against Lesotho, FIFA's 128th ranked team. Algeria's manager has turned to domestic players to quickly replace Bentaleb and Feghouli.