Tottenham Hotspur right-back Matt Doherty is reportedly out for the rest of the season with the knee injury he picked up against Aston Villa.
The Republic of Ireland international tried to carry on at Villa Park after sustaining the issue in a challenge from Matty Cash, but he was unable to do so and was replaced by Sergio Reguilon on the 20-minute mark.
Doherty has earned the trust of Antonio Conte after a strong few weeks in the side, and the Italian "hoped" the defender had avoided a serious injury when asked for an update after the game.
However, football.london reports that Doherty's injury is a serious one, and the 30-year-old will be forced to miss the rest of the season after rupturing his medial collateral ligament.
The report claims that Doherty will spend the next 12 weeks on the sidelines recovering from the issue and will not be available for Ireland for the summer's Nations League matches, but the club have not yet decided whether to go down the route of surgery.
Doherty has scored two goals and set up four more in 15 Premier League matches for Tottenham this term and joins Oliver Skipp and Japhet Tanganga on the sidelines.
Ben Knapton
