Victor Wanyama is expected to return from a four-month layoff at some point over the festive programme. The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder stepped up his rehabilitation after a knee injury with contact work in training and his manager, Mauricio Pochettino, said it had gone well.

Tottenham were keen to avoid surgery for Wanyama and they have followed what the assistant manager, Jesús Pérez, described as a programme of “conservative measures”. They did the same thing with Danny Rose, who also had a serious knee problem but, in the end, the left-back was not able to push himself in training and he had an operation. He was out for eight and a half months.

Spurs believe their decisions over Wanyama will be vindicated, even if he has not played since the second game of the season against Chelsea.

The issue has been with the lining in his knee joint capsule and it first flared up during pre-season training in July. According to Pérez, Wanyama twice reported discomfort on the same day. The Kenyan travelled on the tour of the United States and he played for 45 minutes in the first friendly against Paris Saint-Germain. The knee did not feel right. Wanyama did not feature again in pre-season and he suffered a bad reaction after the Chelsea match.

“He came back to training with the team on Wednesday,” Pochettino said. “Now we need to see how the knee reacts but it’s a very good feeling from him. It will be fantastic to have him back. He was such an important player for us last season and it’s true that we have missed a player like him this season – in a position where you have to be strong.”