Spurs Women midfielder Chloe Peplow out until April with foot injury

The injury woes for Tottenham Hotspur continue today, only this time it appears they’re also affecting the women’s team. Tottenham Hotspur Women announced today that midfielder Chloe Peplow sustained an foot injury in training with England’s U21 team and will be out of action until the beginning of April. She has returned to Spurs for rehabilitation.

Following examination and assessment by our medical team, we can confirm that Chloe Peplow has sustained a foot injury.

The midfielder was withdrawn from the England Women Under-21 squad as a result of the injury suffered during a training session and is now undergoing rehabilitation with a view to returning to training in early April.

—Statement, Tottenham Hotspur Women

It’s a blow to Tottenham Women, to be sure. Peplow has been one of the mainstays in central midfield for Spurs this season, and has stepped up as the primary defensive midfielder after the midseason departure of Rachel Furness to Liverpool. She’s appeared in 12 of Tottenham’s 15 league matches, starting ten of them as the deepest midfielder in a midfield two or three (think Eric Dier or Victor Wanyama) and been safe with the ball, completing 83% of her passes.

In the short term, Spurs should have enough to cover her absence, and there are a couple of directions that Karen Hills and Juan Amoros could go. Spurs’ defenders are, generally speaking, positionally flexible and if a true defensive midfield solution is needed someone like Ria Percival or Anna Filbey could step up from the back line to partner with Josie Green, something both have done in the past. Another option would be to have Kit Graham drop from the 10 into the center of midfield and play with a higher defensive line, and have Green move into the defensive role.

Thankfully, it’s not a super serious injury and it looks as though Peplow may not miss too many matches — she’s definitely out for this Sunday’s North London Derby FA Cup match, and could also miss upcoming home matches against Birmingham and Chelsea, as well as a trip to Liverpool in early April.