Tottenham boss AVB delivers update on Lennon and Chiriches

Aaron Lennon is expected to be out of action for another one or two weeks due to a foot injury, Andre Villas-Boas has revealed.

The England international missed training on Wednesday morning and the Spurs boss confirmed that the 26-year-old has still not recovered from the problem that has kept him out of action since the first day of the season.

“With Lennon we’re still making steady progress on his foot injury,” said Villas-Boas ahead of Tottenham’s clash with Tromso in the Europa League on Thursday.

“Unfortunately for us it’s taking more time than we expected. It’s not a stress fracture, it’s a stress response on the bone of his foot.

“It’s very very difficult because it’s a situation in which we have to allow the pain to disappear completely. He still feels the pain, so maybe one more week or two more weeks, I don’t know.”

The Portuguese coach also confirmed that summer signing Nacer Chadli would not be involved due to a muscle strain.

He added: “Chadli was not involved against Norwich and won’t be involved against Tromso because he hasn’t recovered from a slight strain that he has.”

Meanwhile, Villas-Boas also revealed that Romania international Vlad Chiriches is still awaiting the paperwork for his work permit and will not be involved in Spurs’ Europa League opener at White Hart Lane.

“We are expecting [the paperwork] anytime soon, it could have even arrived today, but it hasn’t and he’s not going to be involved,” he said.

“I think for Bulgaria and Romania the process takes a bit longer. Sometimes it happens quicker.

“At the moment we are waiting for the post to arrive for the player to be registered. As awkward as it may look and sound, that is the reality. Obviously the player is frustrated with the situation but we can’t do anything about it.”