Tottenham Hotspur interim head coach Ryan Mason has revealed that Hugo Lloris and Ryan Sessegnon will both miss the remainder of the season through injury.
Club captain Lloris has spent the last two games on the sidelines since sustaining a hip problem in the first half of Spurs' 6-1 defeat to Newcastle United last month.
Lloris came off at half time at St James' Park having already shipped five goals, and during his post-game media duties, he admitted that the injury did not "look good".
Fraser Forster has stepped in for both of Spurs' matches under Mason so far, conceding six goals across two Premier League games against Manchester United and Liverpool.
Mason addressed the media on Friday afternoon ahead of the visit of London rivals Crystal Palace on Saturday, and the Spurs interim boss conceded that Lloris would not be able to play again before the campaign concludes.
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With Lloris's performances taking a nosedive this season, Tottenham are believed to be scouring the market for a new number one, fuelling speculation that the Frenchman could have played his final game in a Tottenham shirt.
Lloris is out of contract in 2024, but Mason refused to be drawn into rumours over his captain's future, telling reporters: "Hugo is out for the season. We had the results back. Obviously disappointing. We feared that initially and now we've had the results.
"I can't speak about next season but what I can say is that he has a very important role for us until the end of the season. We need him. We need him to be part of the group and I'm sure he will be."
Lloris's diagnosis represents one of two devastating blows for Tottenham, as left wing-back Sessegnon will also not play again this season due to a troublesome hamstring concern.
The 22-year-old has not played since February's 1-0 win over Manchester City, missing Spurs' last 15 games in all tournaments, and he joins Lloris and Rodrigo Bentancur (ACL) on the season-ending injury list.
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Mason admitted that he could not put a return date on Bentancur's recovery, but he is hopeful that Yves Bissouma (ankle) and Emerson Royal (knee) can both return before the campaign concludes.
"Ryan [Sessegnon] had a significant injury and he won't feature for the rest of the season," the 31-year-old added.
"[With Rodrigo Bentancur] obviously you can have set backs with these kind of things. We're assessing him day by day. It's probably too early to set a return date.
"We're hopeful [Bissouma can play a part before the end of the season]. There are some hurdles he's got to overcome. Emerson is day by day now and hopefully he can help us before the end of the season."
Tottenham's four-game winless streak has plunged them down to seventh place in the Premier League table ahead of the visit of Palace, nine points off the top four having played a game more than Manchester United.
Ben Knapton
