Roberto Martinez rules Vincent Kompany and Mousa Dembele out of Belgium qualifier

Belgium will be without two influential Premier League stars for their 2018 World Cup qualifier against Estonia, Roberto Martinez has confirmed. Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele have been officially ruled out of Sunday's Group H clash (13 November) at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels after both being restricted to individual training along with the likes of Thomas Meunier, Steven Defour and Axel Witsel.

"Vincent Kompany and Mousa Dembele are out for Estonia," the manager revealed.

Injury-stricken Kompany was initially named as a starter on Wednesday as the Red Devils travelled to Amsterdam for a friendly against the Netherlands, but was withdrawn and replaced by Watford's Christian Kabasele shortly before kick-off.

Martinez was keen to stress after the 1-1 draw that he had not suffered another fitness setback, instead insisting that he "did not want to take any risks" with the player not feeling well following a pre-match warm-up.

"He has some discomfort in his groin and he has not been training so at this point I am not going to put Vincent in contention for Sunday," Martinez was quoted saying by BBC Sport.

Dembele, meanwhile, limped out of Tottenham's recent Champions League defeat to Bayer Leverkusen with an ankle injury suffered in the opening 30 minutes. He shook off the niggle to play the full 90 minutes of the north London derby draw against Arsenal, successfully winning the penalty that led to Harry Kane's equaliser after a second-half tangle with Laurent Koscielny. Mauricio Pochettino subsequently dubbed the former Fulham favourite "a genius" for his influential display at the Emirates Stadium.

Dembele, who sat out the first five Premier League matches of the season serving a six-game ban for violent conduct and later missed a month of action due to hamstring trouble and a recurring foot problem, is now said to be dealing with a "soft tissue injury" ahead of Tottenham's London derby against West Ham United on 19 November. Striker Vincent Janssen must however be considered a doubt after withdrawing from the Netherlands squad to face Luxembourg with a concussion that caused him to lose 20 minutes of his memory.

Elsewhere, Belgium remain without Toby Alderweireld while Thibaut Courtois is set to replace Simon Mignolet for this weekend's qualifier despite initial concerns over an ongoing eye issue. The Chelsea goalkeeper was pictured sporting a rather gruesome bloodshot eye while watching Wednesday's tie from the substitutes' bench, although quickly took to social media afterwards to allay fears that he was set for a spell on the sidelines.

"Everything's OK with my eye," he said on Twitter. "[I've] had it for two weeks and [it] doesn't affect my goalkeeping."