Son Heung-min injury: Tottenham forward ruled out until February with calf injury

Son picked up the injury in Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea

Son Heung-min injured his calf against Chelsea (Getty Images)

Tottenham's Son Heung-min has picked up a muscle injury that is expected to leave him sidelined until February.

The news was confirmed by Spurs manager Antonio Conte who said Son suffered a muscle problem during their 2-0 Carabao Cup first leg semi-final defeat against Chelsea on Wednesday. The boss said the star will be out until until at least the upcoming international break, which begins on 24 January.

Conte said: “The day after Son felt a bit of pain in his muscle, in his leg and he had a scan. Now we have to make the right evaluations from the doctors. He’s an injury. I don’t know but probably they could stay without training session until the end of this cycle, for the international break.”

This means Spurs are set to be without Son for their FA Cup tie against Morecombe on Sunday, their second Carabao Cup leg against the Blues, and for Premier League fixtures against Arsenal, Leicester City and Chelsea.

Son has been in good form so far this season with eight goals in 18 league appearances which has helped propel Spurs to sixth. The next match Son is likely to be available for is Tottenham's league game against Southampton on 9 February.

Conte was speaking ahead of the FA Cup tie and has said he needs time to build form back into the team. He took over from Nuno Espírito Santo in November.

He said: “This league is the most difficult in the world and the level of the league is very high. It’s very demanding in every game and for this reason you need to pay great attention.

“You need to build a good foundation and structure if you want to be competitive. I repeat, apart from the top four teams in England, then there are many strong teams building something important too.

“You have to be prepared to fight a lot here and keep your position here. We know this and it will be difficult but we have to do our best to bring Tottenham in the best position for the club.”