Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld injury is ‘bad’ but ‘nobody is to blame’, says Jose Mourinho

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho says the injury picked up by Toby Alderweireld in Saturday’s win over Manchester City is “bad” but insists there is “nobody to blame”.

The Belgian was forced off holding his groin late in the 2-0 victory, putting a slight downer on an otherwise superb win for Mourinho’s side as the Portuguese marked his one-year anniversary at the club by leading them to the top of the Premier League table.

Mourinho has been vocal in his criticism of this season’s hectic schedule, particularly in relation to the volume of international football being played, and he has sparred publicly with England boss Gareth Southgate over Harry Kane’s playing time.

Alderweireld played 90 minutes in both of Belgium’s Nations League games over the past week – against England and Denmark – but unlike the Three Lions’ meeting with Iceland, neither were dead rubbers, with Roberto Mancini’s side battling for Finals qualification.

"It's bad,” Mourinho said of the injury. “It's a muscular abductor injury. We have three centre-backs in the Premier League but not in the Europa League where we don't have Joe Rodon.

“There's nobody to blame. He played in matches for Belgium they needed to win. It's just one of those things."

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