• No need for surgery but ligament damage will take time to heal • Injury sustained early in Spurs’ 3-0 defeat at Brighton

This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

The Tottenham captain, Hugo Lloris, will not be back in action until the new year because of his dislocated left elbow.

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The keeper suffered the injury during Spurs’ 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Saturday, falling awkwardly after falling to collect a cross, leading to the opening goal. He is not expected to return to training until January, Tottenham confirmed on Monday. The 32-year-old does not need surgery but has suffered ligament damage.

Lloris, captain of both Spurs and France, would have joined up with Les Bleus for the forthcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Iceland and Turkey but now misses out.

“Hugo Lloris has undergone further assessment this morning after sustaining a dislocated elbow in our match against Brighton on Saturday,” a club statement read. “The findings have shown that although surgery will not be required, our club captain has suffered ligament damage and is not expected to return to training before the end of 2019.

“Hugo is currently in a brace and will now undergo a period of rest and rehabilitation under the supervision of our medical staff at Hotspur Way.”

His international manager, Didier Deschamps, had earlier broken the news at his press conference before Tottenham confirmed his prognosis.

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Deschamps said France would be missing a “very important” player but has backed Alphonse Areola, Steve Mandanda and Mike Maignan to perform in Lloris’s absence. “It’s hard to quantify but he is a very important player – it’s a loss for us,” said Deschamps. “But we have played without him before, even if he has not had a long-term injury like this before in his career. Other players will take over to allow the team to continue to perform.”

Despite his indifferent form, the long-term loss of Lloris presents another headache for the under-pressure Mauricio Pochettino after Spurs’ dreadful run of form.

Saturday’s defeat came four days after their home humiliation by Bayern Munich in the Champions League and Lloris will now miss key fixtures against Liverpool, Everton, Red Star Belgrade and Manchester United, among others. December’s trip to Munich could prove especially testing, after the German side’s 7-2 win.