Tottenham left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto could be out for four weeks with a knee injury, Andre Villas-Boas has revealed.
Assou-Ekotto has barely missed a match in the last four seasons but he sat out Sunday's 3-1 win over Reading after a niggling injury flared up.
Villas-Boas said after the game that the 28-year-old may have to undergo a minor operation to rectify the problem.
"Benoit has a small fragment in his knee that makes it swell a lot," the Spurs boss said.
"He has played through pain in the last couple of games. His knee may have to be washed up and if that happens we are looking at a four-week absence."
Kyle Naughton usually operates at right-back but he slotted in to Assou-Ekotto's position comfortably against Reading, and Villas-Boas also has the option of shifting Jan Vertonghen to left-back, where he has played numerous times for Belgium.
