Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou says that midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur “looks like” he sustained a concussion during the first leg of Spurs’ Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool on Wednesday.
Bentancur, 27, was taken off on a stretcher with an oxygen mask on after appearing suffering a head injury in the eighth minute of the 1-0 win. The game was delayed for eight minutes while Bentancur was treated on the pitch.
The Uruguayan posted an image of himself smiling in hospital on social media after the match along with the caption: “All good guys! Thank you for the messages. Congratulations on the victory boys.”
Postecoglou said in an update on Friday that Bentancur had returned home and that his injury “looked like a concussion and nothing more than that”.
“He was in the hospital, obviously, and they did all of the tests in terms of checking, making sure everything is okay and all good,” added the Australian.
“He is back home. He is fine. He is feeling good. We’ll obviously follow the protocols now. I think it is a couple of weeks where you have to make sure everything is okay.”
“It was a distressing situation but I thought the lads handled it well and the medical team handled it well,” he added.
Spurs hold a 1-0 advantage going into next month’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
The FA’s concussion guidelines state that players must complete all six stages of its Graduated Return to Play (GRTP) programme before they are permitted to participate in match play.
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What is a concussion? Will the player always lose consciousness? How long is recovery?
Stage 1 is an initial rest period of 48 hours following the injury, followed by “light exercise,” “football-related exercise” and then non-contact training. Progression through these four stages must take a minimum of 14 days.
If the player is symptom-free after these 14 days, has completed all four stages and is cleared by a medical professional, they can resume full-contact training.
The guidelines state that the earliest a player can return to play is 21 days after the concussion was sustained. This means that Bentancur would be sidelined until Tottenham’s final league-phase game against Swedish side Elfsborg in the Europa League on January 29 and could be unavailable for five matches.
Spurs take on National League side Tamworth on Sunday and will have James Maddison and Pape Matar Sarr returning after being suspended in midweek.
Postecoglou said in a team news update that all of his side’s other injured players — which would include Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison — will remain unavailable this weekend and said he would not consider playing any of them on Tamworth’s artificial pitch.
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The Briefing: Tottenham 1 Liverpool 0 – Bergvall’s winner, Bentancur stretchered off, Slot’s side toothless
(Warren Little/Getty Images)
