Why Destiny Udogie is not in the Tottenham Hotspur squad vs Aston Villa

Tottenham Hotspur fans were left wondering about the whereabouts of a first-team regular from the match day squad against Aston Villa.

Spurs return to Premier League action on Sunday afternoon with the visit of Aston Villa to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium following the international break.

While only Ben Davies appeared to pick up an injury issue while on international duty, the rest of Thomas Frank’s players came through unscathed.

With matches coming thick and fast for Tottenham over the coming weeks as they look to navigate their way through the Premier League and Champions League, keeping the squad injury free is a major aim, especially after last season’s issues.

Destiny Udogie misses out against Aston Villa through injury

When the team news was announced earlier this afternoon, Destiny Udogie was the most notable absentee from the match day line up.

Thomas Frank opted to select Djed Spence at left-back for the visit of Villa, with Udogie not available for selection.

The 22-year-old was named on the bench for both of Italy’s recent matches against Estonia and Israel, but did not make it onto the pitch.

It has now been revealed that Udogie has suffered a ‘minor irritation’ in his knee upon his return with Italy, with Thomas Frank playing down the severity of the issue.

Elsewhere, there was positive news with Randal Kolo Muani returning to the matchday squad for the first time since featuring against Villarreal in mid-September with a place amongst our substitutes

• READ MORE: Tottenham eye January swoop for Man United player who is yet to start a game this season