Tottenham's five-player injury crisis as Cristian Romero adds to Thomas Frank woes

Thomas Frank faces a mounting defensive crisis ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's crucial Champions League clash with Monaco.

Club captain Cristian Romero was forced to withdraw during the warm-up prior to Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa at home, suffering an adductor complaint. Kevin Danso was hastily drafted in as a late replacement to partner Micky van de Ven at the heart of Spurs' backline.

Tottenham were already without Ben Davies, who was withdrawn early whilst representing Wales against Belgium last week with an undisclosed problem.

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Meanwhile, Radu Dragusin remains unavailable as he continues his rehabilitation from anterior cruciate ligament surgery, whilst summer signing Kota Takai is still working towards full fitness.

This left 16-year-old academy prospect Jun'ai Byfield as the only centre-half option available from the substitutes' bench during the Villa encounter.

Frank admitted uncertainty over whether Romero would be available for Wednesday's Monaco fixture, and matters worsened when Danso appeared to be struggling late on against Villa following a knock to his ankle. Should Spurs lose another central defender, midfielders Joao Palhinha or Archie Gray could be called upon to deputise.

"Minor adductor issue, nothing big," Frank said when questioned about Romero's condition. When pressed on his availability for the Monaco tie, Frank conceded: "I don't know. He could be, he couldn't. I just don't know."

Spurs were also missing left-back Destiny Udogie, who reported "minor irritation" in his knee following international commitments with Italy. Should Udogie and Romero remain unavailable, Tottenham could face a significant player shortage at Stade Louis II, with forward Mathys Tel not included in their Champions League squad for the league phase.

Dutch international Van de Ven may once again don the captain's armband and he commended his defensive partner Danso on his performance in the loss to Villa.

"Yeah, of course always a blow when 'Cuti' falls out before kick-off. In the warm-up he stepped inside and we knew already, 'OK, he is done for today,' but Kev did an unbelievable job to come in," Van de Ven shared with SpursPlay.

"It's really difficult to come in the warm-up when you never know if you're going to play, but I think he did unbelievable when he came in.

"Of course it's difficult (last-minute), but I know the qualities of Kevin. I've played with Kev a couple of times and I know what I can expect from him and he knows what to expect from me."

Villa's triumph in London marked their fifth consecutive win in all competitions, and Unai Emery lavished praise on Morgan Rogers after he netted his first club goal in 20 matches.

Rogers had been impressive while representing England, but hadn't found the back of the net for Villa since April until his stunning strike.

Emery commented: "Always he is doing his task because he is a hard worker and through it is coming the performance individually. Like today with (Ollie) Watkins, he played a fantastic 30 mins, he didn't score but he was fantastic.

"For Morgan especially, he did the same progression because he was working and working and working.

"Always you have to work and Morgan is playing and scoring because he is helping the team for 90 minutes. He is very important, very important."