Ben Davies injury not serious, but Oliver Skipp unlikely for Newcastle

Yesterday, we reported that Tottenham Hotspur central defender Ben Davies had withdrawn from international duty with Wales and returned to London with a suspected injury. That was pretty concerning! There’s good news on that front, however — according to Dan Kilpatrick in the Evening Standard, Davies’ injury is not considered to be serious, and his departure from the Wales national team was precautionary.

This means that Tottenham and Antonio Conte are expected to have Davies available for Spurs’ upcoming Premier League match against Newcastle on Sunday. Wales qualified for UEFA’s playoff for qualification to the World Cup in Qatar this coming winter, and their next match in this international break is a friendly against the Czech Republic. Wales manager Ryan Giggs allowed Davies to return to London; it’s now possible that fellow Spurs player Joe Rodon may get Davies’ minutes on Tuesday night.

So that’s good! However, Kilpatrick giveth and Kilpatrick taketh away. The same report says that despite Antonio Conte being hopeful that Oliver Skipp could return to first team football after the international break, he is now unlikely to play. Skippy suffered from an infection in the groin area (ow!) after picking up a knock in January, and a specialist has advised the only real way to heal that particular injury is through rest and gradual physical activity. It’s a frustrating situation for sure and Tottenham could absolutely use him, but it’s equally important that Skipp come back healthy, no matter how long it takes.

In addition, Spurs are still without Ryan Sessegnon, who continues to rehab from a hamstring injury, and Japhet Tanganga, who is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery.