Tottenham striker Harry Kane ruled out of Bayer Leverkusen tie with Arsenal return uncertain

Key striker Harry Kane will miss Tottenham Hotspur's forthcoming Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen and is not guaranteed to feature in the first north London derby of the season against Arsenal on Sunday (6 November).

The England international has not featured in a competitive fixture since mid-September, when he damaged ankle ligaments during the second half of a narrow 1-0 Premier League victory over Sunderland.

Fears that Kane could be sidelined for a significant period of time were later allayed after the results of a second scan proved to be much better than expected. The 23-year-old was pictured training alongside his teammates in advance of Wednesday's visit of Leverkusen to London, although Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that neither he nor centre-back Toby Alderweireld will play any part in the Group E tie at Wembley.

The latter, who appeared to be working alone in the gym on Tuesday before running outside, was stretchered off after sustaining a knee injury following a seemingly innocuous collision with compatriot Jan Vertonghen that took place during the second half of a frustrating draw at West Brom earlier this month.

"He [Kane] won't be ready for tomorrow night," the manager told reporters at his pre-match press conference. "Sunday, maybe. We need to assess. Kane and Alderweireld had a special session today. We hope Harry will be back in full training on Thursday."

Tottenham's only other lingering injury concern at present is Erik Lamela. The Argentine winger was a surprising omission from the 18-man matchday squad for Saturday's 1-1 home stalemate against defending champions Leicester due to illness and remains questionable to face Leverkusen after suffering a hip issue. Summer signing Moussa Sissoko, meanwhile, is available for selection as his three-match domestic suspension for violent conduct handed down by The Football Association (FA) for an elbow on Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter does not apply to European competition.

"Lamela had a problem with his hip during training today and we are not sure if he will be involved tomorrow," Pochettino added.

Tottenham's second clash with Leverkusen, currently 10th in the Bundesliga following a late 2-1 win over Wolfsburg, comes just a fortnight after a number of impressive saves from captain Hugo Lloris helped to secure the Premier League title contenders a goalless draw in North Rhine-Westphalia. Spurs currently trail Monaco by a point at the summit of Group E and Pochettino is aware of the importance of ending a recent blip that has seen his side fail to win any of their last five matches across all competitions.

"We understand that tomorrow's game is key. It's very important to take the three points against tough opposition."