When leading marksman Harry Kane limped off against Bournemouth last Sunday with 34 minutes played, Tottenham Hotspur supporters could be forgiven for letting out a collective groan.
Fears that the England international may miss the remainder of the campaign have since been allayed, though, as the return of scan results confirmed minor ligament damage in his right ankle, likely ruling him out for just over a month.
As well as missing this weekend's FA Cup quarter-final trip to Swansea City, and potentially the semi-finals in five weeks' time should Spurs progress, Kane is expected to sit out at least four Premier League fixtures.
A trip to Chelsea is up next for the Lilywhites in the top flight on April 1, before games against Stoke City, Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion in the next month.
That could spell bad news for Mauricio Pochettino's charges, as their win rate is substantially reduced when Kane is not in the squad.
Looking back as far as the start of the 2014-15 Premier League season, Spurs have played 131 times with the 24-year-old in their ranks, averaging a return of two goals per game and a win rate of 59%.
Without him, though, and rather worryingly for Tottenham fans, that drops to 1.2 and 38% respectively from the 13 games that he has been forced to sit out.
Kane missed a couple of months last season with identical ankle injuries, including three top-flight games in early spring, each of which Pochettino's men managed to win even without their star man.
While their win rate does decrease without the back-to-back Premier League top scorer in their side, then, Spurs still have the ability to grind out victories if their other attacking talents step up to the plate.
Daniel Lewis
