Tottenham Hotspur Suffer Injury Blow as Pochettino Closes in on MLS Defender DeAndre Yedlin

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt an injury blow ahead of their Premier League opener against West Ham after defender Kyle Walker was ruled out of the fixture.

Walker has not played a competitive game since March and was omitted from England's World Cup squad.

The 24-year-old right-back now looks to have lost his battle to recover from a pelvic injury, despite taking part in the club's pre-season tour of America last month.

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said it was important that Walker recovers fully from the five-month lay-off before he returns to Tottenham's starting line-up.

The Argentine said: "Kyle still has days when he does not have a good feeling but we believe he'll recover soon.

"We need to be calm with him because he has had an injury that happened five months ago."

Walker's setback comes as Spurs close in on Seattle Sounders right-back DeAndre Yedlin.

The MLS defender is set to join the north London club for £2.75m and offer competition for Walker as he continues to recover.

Speaking at the press conference, Pochettino did not rule out making additional signings before the weekend's Premier League fixtures.

So far Tottenham have recruited Ben Davies, Michel Vorm and Eric Dier and have been linked with moves for Southampton duo Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez, despite Saints ruling out their departures.

Schneiderlin joined the south coast club from Strasbourg in 2008 and has made 226 appearances for the club while Rodriguez scored 15 goals last season, earning him his first England cap and putting him in contention for a place in Roy Hodgson's England squad before he got injured in the final weeks of the season.

But Pochettino has also warned his players that he wants to trim Spurs' squad from 32 down to 25, meaning some will face the axe at White Hart Lane.

"We currently have 32 players so we need to be clinical in our selection," he added.