Ange Postecoglou confirmed Dominic Solanke will be missing until March but said there is light at the end of the tunnel in Tottenham Hotspur's battle with injuries.
In the latest blow for the club, the 27-year-old striker twisted his knee in training and will play no part in Sunday's Premier League match with Leicester City.
Postecoglou said Solanke is expected to be sidelined for "several weeks" and has more injury doubts for the weekend, but believed that better news is on the horizon, with several first-team players nearing a return.
The head coach confirmed Djed Spence is a doubt after picking up a knock in the 3-2 loss at Everton last Sunday, while Pape Sarr may also miss out as Spurs hope to end a run of six matches without a win.
"We're looking at around the six-week mark for him, but no surgery," Postecoglou said of Solanke after their 3-2 win against Hoffenheim in the UEFA Europa League.
"Nothing's changed in the last 24 hours," Postecoglou added of his striker in his pre-match press conference.
"But we should have light at the end of the tunnel in a couple of weeks. It's not as dire, but at the same time there's always a possibility that before those guys come back we might lose a couple."
Postecoglou feels the forced minutes being given to teenagers such as Archie Gray, Mikey Moore and Lucas Bergvall will stand both the club and the players in good stead for the future.
"It's been two months of hard grind," he added. "The resilience and the determination of the players to get out there and perform is a fantastic thing for me to witness, I couldn't be more proud of them.
"We will benefit from the growth of our younger players, but we have to be careful with them. We can't ask 18-year-olds to keep dipping in and out."
In more positive news, Rodrigo Bentancur is available to face Leicester after coming through Thursday night's Europa League tie at Hoffenheim. Richarlison also played in the victory, despite picking up a late injury at Goodison Park.
Spurs' injured players
| Player | Injury | Latest update |
|---|---|---|
| Cristian Romero | Muscle | Details |
| Destiny Udogie | Hamstring | Details |
| Micky van de Ven | Hamstring | Details |
| Guglielmo Vicario | Ankle | Details |
| Wilson Odobert | Hamstring | Details |
| Timo Werner | Hamstring | Details |
| Yves Bissouma | Knock | Details |
| Brennan Johnson | Muscle | Details |
| Dominic Solanke | Knee | Details |
| Pape Sarr | Knock | Details |
| Djed Spence | Knock | Details |
On Richarlison, who could replace Solanke up front, Postecoglou said the forward is "as fit as he could possibly be," but added: "We're managing his minutes at the moment. He felt good last night, he got through it. The reality is that unless something changes, he has to play."
Spurs could possibly have 11 senior players out injured, with goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, defenders Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie, midfielders Yves Bissouma and forwards Brennan Johnson, Wilson Odobert and Timo Werner all sidelined.
On the club's need for further January signings after the addition of goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky and 18-year-old forward Yang Min-hyeok, Postecoglou added: "There's still no doubt we need to help these players as we've still got some significant games before we get the injured players back."