Dele Alli injury: Tottenham still waiting to assess England midfielder ahead of crucial few weeks

Tottenham Hotspur are still waiting to assess Dele Alli’s hamstring injury, a scan that will determine Spurs’ prospects in a crucial few weeks for the club.

Alli injured his hamstring during Sunday’s 2-1 win at Craven Cottage, leaving the club on tenterhooks about the fitness of one of their star players. But Alli was not scanned on Monday, leaving Tottenham until Tuesday to assess the extent of the injury to the 22-year-old.

The England midfielder is a serious doubt for Spurs’ League Cup semi-final second leg at Chelsea on Thursday night, leaving Tottenham without their whole first-choice front line for their biggest match of the season so far.

Aside from Alli, Harry Kane is likely out for another five weeks with an ankle injury he picked up during Spurs’ 1-0 defeat to Manchester United on 13 January.

That absence will rule Kane out of both legs of Spurs’ Champions League last-16 tie with Borussia Dortmund, as well as a potential League Cup final, most likely against Manchester City, on 24 February.

That would leave Spurs waiting on the return of Heung Min Son from the Asian Cup to bolster their limited forward options. Son’s South Korea face Bahrain in the last-16 on Tuesday, to set up a quarter-final against Qatar or Iraq on Friday, and a potential semi-final next Tuesday.

The final is not until Friday 1 February in Abu Dhabi, meaning that Son might well not be available again until Spurs host Leicester City in the Premier League on 10 February, or even until the first leg against Dortmund three days later.

This means that Tottenham will likely have to find an alternative solution up front at Stamford Bridge, at Crystal Palace in the FA Cup on Sunday and for the next few weeks. Fernando Llorente made a rare league start on Sunday and Spurs hope that he will be joined up front by Lucas Moura.

The Brazilian has missed the last three weeks with injury but he has returned to training and Mauricio Pochettino wants to be able to bring him back into the fold at Chelsea this week.