Ryan Mason
Ryan Mason suffered a problem in his ankle during the draw against Chelsea Getty

Mauricio Pochettino is sweating over the fitness of Ryan Mason after he was forced to replace the England international midfielder in the second half of the 0-0 draw with Chelsea on Sunday (29 November) due to a "problem in his ankle". The Spurs boss said the 24-year-old star will have a scan to address the problem, having already spent time on the sidelines earlier this season with another injury.

Mason was making his first Premier League start since going down injured against Sunderland in September. The midfielder saw game time late against Bournemouth last month butfeatured as a substitute in the following league games with Aston Villa, Arsenal and West Ham – with his only starting appearances coming in Europa League matches with Anderlecht and Qarabag.

Pochettino returned Mason to the first teamfor the derby against Chelsea due to Dele Alli's suspension, but was forced to replaced him with Erik Lamela in the second half of the game after he suffered a problem with his ankle.

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"We will assess him tomorrow and we will see, but we hope it's not a big issue. He has a problem in his ankle," Pochettino said after the game, as quoted by FourFourTwo.

The Argentine manager was happy with his team's performance against the reigning Premier League holders, feeling they deserve the win after restricting Chelsea to just one shot on target all game.

"We played the defending champions and it is good that you get the feeling that Chelsea are a small team and Tottenham feel they can win every game," he said. "It's not easy. We are one of the younger teams in the Premier League.

"We need to keep working hard because there's only been 14 games and today it's too early to talk about the end of the season.

"I think we created enough chances to score. Chelsea only had one shot on target in the second half from Hazard, so I think we deserved more. Chelsea played one of their best games of the season, and I think that when you make the effort we showed today – and the maturity – you have to be happy with the players."