Ange Postecoglou confirmed that Richarlison was taken off during Tottenham's defeat by Leicester due to a groin problem.

Spurs have been forced to contend with a multitude of injury issues for much of this season, with a number of key players like Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero missing significant chunks of the campaign.

Forward players James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner and Dominic Solanke were also missing for Leicester's trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, paving the way for Richarlison to make his first Premier League start of the season.

After coming off the bench to score against Everton last weekend, the Brazilian made it back-to-back league games with a goal as he put his team in front in the first half against Leicester.

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However, he was replaced after 54 minutes — a few minutes after Leicester had taken the lead after two quick-fire goals at the beginning of the second half.

Richarlison's withdrawal prompted boos from some supporters inside the stadium, but Postecoglou confirmed it was a forced decision. “Richarlison was feeling his groin, he had to come off, I should have took him off at half-time and he wasn't running out," Postecoglou said.

Postecoglou also confirmed that midfielder Pape Sarr played through the pain against Leicester. “I’ve said all along, the players need help and I’ve also said the club are working hard in that area to try to alleviate some of those problems, because Pape Sarr shouldn’t have played today. He obviously wasn’t fit.

“The players are going out there and giving everything they can because we can’t call off games. We’ve got another game in three days’ time that these players have to front up for [in the Europa League].

“The injury situation will ease and I’m confident they will sort of help us. Even one more player coming in, just in the short term will give us an opportunity, at least to navigate these last 10 days, two weeks, of what’s been a really hard slog for this group of players.”

Spurs travel to Liverpool in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on February 6, with the visiting team holding a 1-0 aggregate lead.