Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou is already being forced to deal with injury concerns in the early weeks of the season.
Spurs have now entered the first international break of the campaign and have four points to their name in the Premier League.
Postecoglou's side fell to a 2-1 defeat away at Newcastle United on Sunday before the hiatus began, and some star players missed the fixture due to injury.
Micky van de Ven was not involved in the game due to a fitness concern. Instead, Postecoglou started January signing Radu Dragusin alongside Cristian Romero at the heart of the Tottenham defence at St James' Park.
Postecoglou confirmed before the match why Van de Van was left out, and was hopeful that, after the international break, the centre-back would have recovered from the fitness issue.
"Micky was close in training this week but with the international break he's not quite 100 per cent," Postecoglou told the media before Tottenham's defeat to Newcastle on Sunday "Part of me was keen to give Radu [Dragusin] a run, especially at this venue, so yeah we're going with Radu today."
"No, not really," Postecoglou added, when asked if he was disappointed by Van de Ven's absence. "It's nothing serious. We've got a heaped programme straight after the international break so we're going to need all our back four. So getting Radu a game today I think is a positive thing for us."
Dominic Solanke also missed the defeat to Newcastle as he was sidelined with a foot injury. The summer signing from Bournemouth also missed the win over Everton the previous week, but Postecoglou stated in his latest press conference that he hopes Solanke will return after the international break.
"Dom is close but we're going to be a bit cautious with him, we've got a big programme post the international break, so he'll miss out on Sunday," Postecoglou told SPURSPLAY on August 30.
Richarlison is another player that has been added to Tottenham's injury list. Postecoglou revealed last week that the Brazil international had suffered an injury during training in the build-up to the trip to Newcastle, and is set for a spell on the sidelines.
"The only other one we got midweek is Richarlison, who unfortunately picked up an injury in training, so he'll probably miss the next few weeks," said Postecoglou last week.
Spurs will return after the international break on Sunday, September 15 in the North London Derby against Arsenal.