Tottenham Hotspur's injury crisis is showing little sign of relenting after it was confirmed Radu Dragusin faces a prolonged spell on the sidelines with an anterior cruciate ligament tear.
The Romanian centre-back sustained the injury in the second half of Tottenham's 3-0 triumph over IF Elfsborg in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday evening.
Dragusin's absence forced Ange Postecoglou to name Archie Gray and Ben Davies as his central defensive pairing in their Premier League meeting with Brentford as Spurs defied the form book to claim a crucial three points and - more surprisingly - a clean sheet.
Tottenham have had to contend with a catalogue of injury setbacks, not least to their centre-backs with Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero missing significant portions of the campaign.
The club have moved to address a shortage of defensive personnel with the capture of Kevin Danso but the news of Dragusin's injury presents another headache for Postecoglou to contend with.
Dragusin is expected to be out for a minimum of six months after sustaining an ACL injury.
That means the 22-year-old will miss the remainder of the season and possibly the start of the subsequent campaign, depending on the duration of his rehabilitation.