Body blow: Spurs suffer major setback before Wolves, Conte will be fuming - opinion

Tottenham have suffered a body blow over Eric Dier’s fitness ahead of their Premier League clash with Wolves…

Antonio Conte has confirmed that the England international will not be available for selection against Bruno Lage’s side on Sunday, whilst revealing when he is expected to return.

Football London quote him as saying: “No, unfortunately he is not fit. For sure, he is a big loss for us. He needs a bit more time to recover.

“I don’t know if… I hope to have him available for the next game, away against Manchester City, but for this game, for sure, he is not available.”

Conte will surely be fuming with this news as it could force him into playing Ben Davies as a central defender. The Welshman has endured an underwhelming season in the top-flight and the Italian coach could prefer to have Dier available to select ahead of him.

In the Premier League this term, Davies has averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.71. This shows that he has been unable to deliver consistently impressive performances on the pitch, which is why he has been disappointing throughout the campaign.

Dier has averaged a score of 7.00 as he has impressed at the back under Conte. He has been a solid presence for Spurs at the back and his absence is, therefore, a blow for the club as he has been able to perform to a higher standard than the Welsh international.

Tottenham have kept eight clean sheets with the Englishman in the side this season, whilst they have only kept four shutouts with the former Swansea defender in the team. This suggests that they have a higher chance of keeping a clean sheet with ex-Sporting machine, based on the evidence of the current campaign so far.

Therefore, Conte will be fuming that he remains unavailable through injury for this