Tottenham have confirmed that James Maddison is "back" as the midfielder closes in on a return from an ankle injury.

The Spurs star has been out of action since his side's chaotic defeat to Chelsea at the start of November, making it the most significant injury he has faced in his career.

However, Maddison is on the verge of being involved again, having returned to full training ahead of Spurs' FA Cup fourth-round clash at home to Manchester City on Friday night.

The official Tottenham account sparked further excitement among fans on Wednesday, posting a picture of Maddison with the captain: 'Look who's back'. They followed it up with a second image of Maddison in training.

Spurs have had close to a two-week break since their last match, a draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford, and Ange Postecoglou confirmed ahead of that game that Maddison was not far away from being available again.

"Obviously after Man United we’ve got two weeks and I’ll be hoping between the two Manchester games he’s back training with the first team as long as there’s no setbacks in that two-week window," the Spurs boss said.

"We’ll see [if he can face City]. It depends when he starts training. If he starts training early next week, potentially, but then again you have to see how they train with the first team, how they feel. I think we’ve got three games in that week after the Man City game so I’d hazard to say he should be."

That defeat to Chelsea in November was the first of three in a row for Tottenham, as their early-season title charge faltered amid the absences of Maddison and Micky van de Ven.

Form has picked up again in recent weeks though, with Spurs sitting three points off Manchester City in second in the table, having played a game more, and eight behind the pace set by Liverpool.