Team news is out for Tottenham Hotspur's mid-week league match to the Bolyn Ground, and Spurs are fortunate to welcome back one of their midfielders into the fold. Tottenham tweeted today that reserve midfielder (and heart-eyes-emoji personified) Tom Carroll is back to play for Spurs against West Ham tomorrow evening. However, Dele Alli is being evaluated and is a slight doubt for the trip to east London.
TEAM NEWS, Mauricio: "@Dele_Alli had problems before & during the game. He’s OK but we’ll assess tomorrow & decide." pic.twitter.com/Rhld17Q17p
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 1, 2016
Mauricio: "@tom_carroll92 is back but @mousadembele is still out." #COYS pic.twitter.com/8quM7glNiB
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 1, 2016
According to the commentary in yesterday's match, Alli apparently stubbed his toe kicking a ball in warmups before the Swansea match this past Sunday and was treated by Spurs' medical staff. He started the match and played most of the game, but apparently this is somewhat of a painful condition for him.
Mousa Dembele is still nursing a groin injury that has kept him out of Spurs' past few matches. I don't have anything to support this theory, but I'd suspect that Spurs are doing everything in their power to get him back and fit in time for the North London Derby this weekend. If that means missing the West Ham match, so be it.
So what does this mean for Tottenham's midfield? Tough to say. Most of us expected Ryan Mason to start alongside Eric Dier on Sunday, but instead Christian Eriksen moved into the pivot in a sort of Luka Modric-esque deep lying playmaker role, and Dele Alli replacing him in the forward attacking band, and Eriksen was extremely effective there. However, it seems likely that we'll see some rotation vs. West Ham, especially with a potential kingmaker derby coming up just a few days later. It seems much more likely that we'll see one of Ryan Mason or Tom Carroll deputize this time around, though if Dele Alli isn't able to go, then that totally upsets the lineup fruit cart and anything could happen. Expect Eric Dier to start though, because he's clearly a cyborg that doesn't feel pain.