Team news: Dele to miss Thursday match at Bournemouth with hamstring tweak

Jose Mourinho just finished his pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday’s Premier League match at relegation-threatened Bournemouth, but if you were hoping for fireworks after the FA’s announcement of Eric Dier’s four match suspension, you’ll be disappointed. The Spurs boss declined to comment much on the FA’s report or Dier’s suspension and fine, though he hinted that he’d have a LOT to say if he wouldn’t get in trouble for saying it.

That’s a disappointing answer for journalists and people who like drama, but proably the smartest thing Mou could’ve possibly done under the circumstances. In fact, that answer kind of feels very un-Mourinhoish, but he clearly doesn’t want to get himself suspended as well so I’ll take it.

Meanwhile, Mourinho and the club also confirmed that Dele will miss his second straight match after tweaking his hamstring somewhere along the line, probably in training. Mourinho said that Dele’s injury isn’t serious, but that the club is being super careful considering Dele’s past history with hamstring injuries.

If you’re keeping track, that means Spurs are without four players that might be expected to feature for Spurs in normal circumstances: utility defender Japhet Tanganga who is out with a back injury that will probably keep him sidelined for the rest of the season, defender Juan Foyth who will similarly miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, Eric Dier who is suspended for the next four matches, and Dele.

Meanwhile, a journalist asked Mourinho about the future of Kyle Walker-Peters, who played very well in Southampton’s last match, receiving a ton of praise for his performance. Mourinho tried to distance himself from any possible transfer, but did hint that KWP might yet have a future at Spurs, if he doesn’t want to leave.

“We let him go because we think he has the right to be happy. He’s happy now I think. He’s playing and playing well. I’m not in control of the transfer decisions but the general feeling is there’s a place for him here. But if his desire is to leave the club in search of happiness I don’t think we’d stop him. He’s a player with a good value in the market but I don’t think we’d stop him doing it.”

On Thursday, Tottenham are playing Bournemouth in the second of three matches within a seven day stretch that culminates with the North London Derby on Sunday. The Bournemouth match kicks off at 1 p.m. ET (6 p.m. BST) at the Vitality Stadium.