Tottenham Hotspur attacker Dejan Kulusevski has taken part in training ahead of the Lilywhites' Premier League clash with Liverpool on Sunday, with Antonio Conte offering a mixed update on team news ahead of the game.
The Juventus loanee has not played for Tottenham since returning from the September international break with a hamstring injury, missing his club's last 10 games in all tournaments.
There were fears that Kulusevski's injury would render him unavailable until after the World Cup, as he had briefly trained with the team in October before entering the treatment room again.
However, an update from journalist Fabrizio Romano on Friday morning stated that the 22-year-old was set to be in contention for the visit of Liverpool, and Conte provided a positive update at his pre-game press conference.
Speaking to the media at Hotspur Way, Conte revealed that Kulusevski had taken part in half a training session with the team, while Rodrigo Bentancur is pushing to be available after coming off against Marseille.
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The good news ceased there for Tottenham, though, as Conte confirmed that Son Heung-min, Cristian Romero and Richarlison would all miss out, while Lucas Moura is experiencing fresh pain too.
"It's better to start with a smile. We need to face this situation. We need to finish these three games in the best possible. We have these injuries. Richarlison is not available for the game, same for Romero," football.london quotes Conte as saying.
"Bentancur is much better and today was a part of training session. The same for Kulusevski, he had half a training session with us.
"The problem with Lucas Moura is having different faces for his pain. Today it was really bad and they said he was really worried for this. I asked him to try to be available. Also Sonny now is having surgery."
Lucas has only made nine appearances for Tottenham this season due to a troublesome tendon injury, while Son sustained a fracture around the eye socket in the Champions League win over Marseille.
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Should Kulusevski ultimately not be risked for Sunday, Bryan Gil and Harry Kane could be Tottenham's sole attacking options, and the former is still waiting for his first Premier League start.
Meanwhile, there are fears that Romero will not play for Tottenham before the World Cup owing to his calf injury, but it is not expected to affect his participation in Qatar.
Conte has insisted that the centre-back's commitment to Tottenham cannot be questioned though, adding: "About Romero, I can tell you that for him if he has the possibility to play with one leg he will play with the one leg.
"I would tell the fans that we have players really committed to the club. Maybe Romero he had an injury because we wanted to take a risk and he had this injury, but for sure many teams are having big injuries."
Tottenham remain third in the Premier League table ahead of the visit of Liverpool - five points adrift of leaders Arsenal having played a game more.
Ben Knapton
