Antonio Conte plays down Cristian Romero injury fears
By Tom Gott
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has cooled concerns that defender Cristian Romero could be set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The Argentine picked up a muscle injury during the recent 2-2 draw with Chelsea, in which he got away with a hair pull on Marc Cucurella which VAR official Mike Dean has since admitted he should have punished.
Reports in Romero's homeland have conflicted with English accounts over just how serious the defender's injury is, with some suggesting he could miss a few days and others predicting a one-month absence.
Amid all the uncertainty, Conte spoke to the media to rule Romero out of the coming game against Wolves, but he left the door open to a speedy return.
“Cristian had a little problem during the game against Chelsea in the final part of the game," the manager said. "But it’s a little problem.
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“After the game he started to feel a bit of pain in his adductor. We checked him, and honestly the player wanted to give his availability but in this type of situation especially as we have a lot of games to play, it would be stupid to take a risk.
“For this reason he’s not available for the game against Wolves.”
In Romero's absence, Conte is likely to turn to either Davinson Sanchez or Japhet Tanganga, both of whom were on the bench against Chelsea. Loan signing Clement Lenglet, who joined from Barcelona earlier this summer, is still out with a muscle injury and is yet to make his Spurs debut.