West Brom vs Tottenham Hotspur: Ryan Mason ruled out with ankle injury as Dele Alli returns

Mauricio Pochettino has revealed the latest on Tottenham's injury situation ahead of their upcoming Premier League clash with West Brom, confirming that Ryan Mason will miss out on the trip to The Hawthorns with an ankle issue. The central midfielder picked up the problem during the goalless draw against Chelsea on 29 November, a match he only started as a result of Dele Alli's suspension for collecting five yellow cards.

"Ryan Mason is out," the manager confirmed during his pre-match press conference. "He got an ankle injury and we hope it's not a big issue and won't take a lot of time."

The imminent return of in-form Alli after his one-match ban should certainly compensate for Mason's absence, although Pochettino is not expecting any of Tottenham's other injured midfield trio to be fit enough to return just yet as the club seek to close a two-point gap on rivals Arsenal and cap their impressive seven-match unbeaten run by infiltrating the top four.

Spurs suffering from catalogue of injured midfielders

"Alex Pritchard is out, Nabil Bentaleb and Nacer Chadli are very close to training with the group," he added. "Dele Alli is available after suspension."

Pritchard, who earned several plaudits during a prosperous season-long loan with Brentford last term, has featured just once this season as a late substitute in August. He is not expected to return to training until January following surgery to correct an injury to his ankle that was originally sustained while on international duty for the England U21s at last summer's European Championship in the Czech Republic.

Bentaleb has also been struggling with an ankle knock and has not played at all for Tottenham since a goalless draw with Everton at Goodison Park on 29 August. He returned to first-team football during Algeria's World Cup qualifying double-header against Tanzania earlier this month, coming on as a substitute in the first fixture before being withdrawn in the first half of the return tie in Blida, having been on the receiving end of a heavy challenge that an irate Pochettino subsequently described as "very, very bad".

Afflicted by a similar problem, versatile winger Chadli initially hurt his ankle after just 10 minutes of a stalemate with Liverpool in October. Tests revealed that the 26-year-old had suffered ligament damage and it was estimated by the club that he would be sidelined for approximately six weeks.