Mousa Dembele's FA Cup substitution was injury related

That stupid Crystal Palace match. First Tottenham Hotspur got beaten by Alan Pardew and Emmanuel Adebayor despite dominating the match in every statistical category. Then we found out Harry Kane broke his nose. Now it turns out that midfielder Mousa Dembele, who was substituted at halftime, picked up a groin injury in the first half of the match.

Mauricio Pochettino confirmed Dembele's knock his post-match comments, which somehow I didn't notice at the time because, IDK, reasons. Here's what he said:

"Mousa Dembele had a smaller groin problem. That's why we changed him at half-time. It's a tough period for us. We have a crazy schedule but now we need to look forward to be ready for next Thursday.

There hasn't been much by way of update yet regarding the severity of his injury or when he might return. PhysioRoom doesn't list a return date, which either means it's something serious or there just isn't any information. Hopefully it's the latter.

Nabil Bentaleb and Dele Alli both played major minutes on Sunday, and Tom Carroll may or may not have returned from his own injury by Thursday, so it's an open question what Tottenham's midfield will look like against Fiorentina if Moose can't go. Eric Dier will almost certainly return to the pivot, but we might see someone like Ryan Mason step into the side in Dembele's place if he's not up to full speed. Meanwhile, Erik Lamela is still listed as out with an "illness" with a return date of Thursday.

Tottenham need a win (Edit: or a draw, thanks away goal!) on Thursday at White Hart Lane against Fiorentina in order to clinch their progression to the next round of the Europa League. And don't forget about the league match vs. Swansea this weekend. Dembele has been one of Spurs' key contributors this season, and it's probably not hyperbole to say that we need our Moose back as soon as possible to keep the wheels from falling off.

Crap.