Tottenham are set for a prolonged period without James Maddison after the 26-year-old's injury against Chelsea. The former Leicester man was taken off in the first half of the 4-1 loss with his side level heading into the break after taking a blow to the ankle.

Maddison was joined off the field by teammate Micky van de Ven as Ange Postecoglou was given plenty to think about at the Tottenham Hotpur Stadium. Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero both saw red in the same game which made things even harder for the north Londoners.

Now things have gotten worse with Maddison's blow appearing to be worse than first thought. Here, football.london has the latest on his fitness.

Long-term fears

The Telegraph report that Tottenham are now fearful of Maddison's ankle injury being worse than had been expected and that he could now be set for a longer spell on the sidelines. The player and club are yet to comment publicly on the situation.

There had been doubt, it is said, over his readiness to start against Chelsea in the first place after he was taken off early in the win over Crystal Palace one week earlier.

England decision

Maddison has now been withdrawn from the England squad. A statement from Tottenham was released on Friday, November 10, announcing the decision. "We can confirm that James Maddison has been withdrawn from the England squad due to an ankle injury.

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"The midfielder will not feature in the Three Lions' UEFA EURO 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, and will remain at Hotspur Way for rehabilitation with the Club's medical staff."

Southgate admission

Gareth Southgate selected Maddison in his initial England squad for two Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, confirming the decision on Thursday, November 9. He also called up Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham and Callum Wilson, all of whom have been struggling with injuries in the past week.

"Some of those, we could lose one today after a scan, we could lose one tomorrow," he said. "I don't really know [who will be available].

"You'd be amazed at how complicated it is picking a squad because all clubs are of course sensitive to information and you're trying to piece everything together. So I couldn't be certain that everybody that is in that squad will be there on Sunday night [when the squad reports for duty], varying levels of doubt.

"With that Callum is probably the biggest level of doubt, Callum Wilson, but equally I'm pretty confident that the others can get through and they're all keen to be in the squad so that's a really good sign."

Maddison message

In the aftermath of the game Maddison turned attention away from his injury, taking to Instagram to send a message John Terry's way. The former Blues captain had been celebrating the win online before Maddison hit out at him.

"When @chelseafc beat Spurs 4-1 on a school night and the tequila comes out, and you end up dancing and singing on the bar," Terry wrote. Maddison popped up in the replies, saying: "Jesus, you have your eyes closed when it was 11 v 11 first 15 JT?" Terry has since come back again, adding: "[Laughing emoji] Don’t worry mate you will get used to it [blue heart emoji]."

What Postecoglou said

Speaking after the game Ange Postecoglou was coy on Maddison but didn't appear to give much thought to it being a damaging issue. "He [Maddison] got a knock on the ankle," the boss said.

"We were down one man already. It made sense to make a couple of changes at that point." At the same time he was more open on Van de Ven being sidelined for a while. "It's too early. With Micky it's a pretty significant one so you'd assume he'll be out for a little while."