Tottenham star Harry Kane has been ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League tie with Bayer Leverkusen - but COULD feature against Arsenal this weekend.
The striker has been sidelined for over six weeks with an ankle injury and while he returned to the pitch on Tuesday, he is not yet back in full training.
Mauricio Pochettino has now confirmed that Wednesday’s Wembley Stadium clash will come too soon for the 23-year-old.
However, the Spurs boss is hopeful the England frotnman will return in time for Sunday's north London derby at the Emirates Stadium.
"Tomorrow, he will not be on the bench," said Pochettino, speaking at a pre-match press conference.
"It is good because you can see he did the warm-up with the team and was involved in some exercises, but for tomorrow he is not ready.
"Maybe [he can play on Sunday]."
If Kane is included either from the start or on the bench against Arsenal, it would put him in contention for international selection later this month.
England play Scotland in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley on November 11 before hosting a friendly against Spain on November 15.
Tottenham may be understandably cautious about over-exerting Kane so soon but Pochettino insists he would not stand in Gareth Southgate's way should he pick the forward.
"If he is available to play Sunday against Arsenal then it will be difficult for us to stop him if the national team call him," Pochettino said.
"We are pro-national team always for all the players. If Harry is available we are not stupid to say 'no, Harry is out,' to try to protect him so that after two weeks he can be with us.
"We want the best for the team and for the player. It's true that maybe it makes more sense for the national team to say: 'Okay, stay at home. Stay with Tottenham and train for two weeks. It's important to build Harry's fitness and be better after'.
"But, if they consider that they need Harry to play for the national team and he is available to play against Arsenal then we cannot stop."
Kane's comeback will be a timely boost for Tottenham, who __have struggled for form and fluency since demolishing Manchester City so impressively last month.
Spurs __have failed to score from open play in their last four matches and cannot afford a slip-up against Leverkusen, who sit third and only a point behind them in Group E.
"It's important to win. Leverkusen is a very good team with very good players. I think it will be tough," Pochettino said.
"We need to be more clinical in our offensive situation. We need to be determined and aggressive in the last third.
"It's true that the last few weeks after the international break it was difficult for us to score. We are creating the same chances as before.
"But it's true that our percentage was poor in front of goal. We are working on that."