Tottenham confirm Harry Winks to miss remainder of the season

File this under “things we are not surprised about in the least.” Tottenham Hotspur confirmed today what Mauricio Pochttino had hinted about earlier in the week and what all Spurs fans had suspected: midfielder Harry Winks will not play again this season.

Winksy suffered a severely twisted ankle in a fluke accident on the pitch at Turf Moor, which resulted in him crashing into Burnley’s dugout. The Burnley physios rushed to his aid, giving him oxygen and eventually stretchering him off and to a local hospital to get a scan.

Thankfully, considering the scenes on the pitch, the diagnosis is only a sprained ankle and not something more serious like a broken ankle or leg, as was hypothesized during the match. But it does mean that Winks will have his promising 2016-17 season cut short.

Winks’ absence isn’t crippling for Spurs, but it does drastically reduce Pochettino’s midfield depth. The injury means Eric Dier is now the primary back-up central midfielder to Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama, and it could prompt a formation and tactical change to the 4-2-3-1 if he is called out of Spurs’ back line.

It’s not known whether Winks’ injury will keep him out of Aidy Boothroyd’s England squad that is set to participate in the U21 European Championships this summer in Poland, but it doesn’t look great. The tournament kicks off in June, giving Winksy two months to recover and get fit.