Pape Matar Sarr went straight down the tunnel with a member of the Tottenham medical staff after he was taken off early into the second half of their Premier League clash against Aston Villa.

The midfielder was one of few first-team stars named from the off at Villa Park with club captain Son Heung-min also making his first start for a number of weeks. However, he lasted just over 50 minutes with Yves Bissouma coming on in his place.

It looked to be a pre-planned alteration but Sarr gingerly walking off sparked concerns and not going to the bench furthered those concerns.

The Lilywhites have already lost James Maddison, Lucas Bergvall and Dejan Kulusevski to injury before their Europa League final against Manchester United next Wednesday. The latter is the newest injury blow with knee surgery required to fix the knee issue picked up last weekend against Crystal Palace

"Disappointing news," Postecoglou said when asked for an update. "Initially we thought it wasn’t too serious. The medical team were worried structurally about how the knee was but it blew up the day after and we knew there was an issue there. He has had surgery and it will put him out for at least a few months."