Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nabil Bentaleb returns after nine weeks out in Algeria draw

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nabil Bentaleb has played his first football since August after coming off the bench in Algeria's 2-2 draw with Tanzania.

Bentaleb was one of Mauricio Pochettino's first choice central midfielders alongside Ryan Mason last season, but has not played since the 0-0 draw against Everton on 29 August. The 20-year-old suffered an ankle problem on the morning of the club's match against Sunderland weeks later, and has since missed the club's last 13 matches.

While the midfielder has returned to training, Pochettino resisted naming him in squads for the club's last two games against Anderlecht and Arsenal, as the manager did not feel he was match fit. Despite his concerns, Algeria manager Christian Gourcuff named Bentaleb in his 25-man squad for World Cup qualifiers against Tanzania and brought the player on at half time on Saturday 14 November to help his side come from 2-0 down to a 2-2 draw.

Algeria are in action against the same opposition on Tuesday with Bentaleb likely to be involved. Should Pochettino be convinced of Bentaleb's fitness when he returns to north London the young midfielder could be in contention to make his club return ahead of league games against London rivals West Ham United and Chelsea.

Tottenham have a number of players representing their countries during this international break. Summer signing Heung min-Son, who has also struggled with injury problems in recent weeks, provided two assists as he helped South Korea defeat Myanmar 4-0.

Kyle Walker and Harry Kane played the full 90 minutes as England lost 2-0 to Spain while Dele Alli and Eric Dier – the latter who was making his international debut – came off the bench with just under half an hour remaining.

Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen played a full 90 minutes as Belgium defeated Italy 3-1 at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, while Christian Eriksen was unable to prevent Denmark losing 2-1 to Sweden in the first leg of their European Championship play-off.