Kyle Naughton

Tottenham Hotspur are on the verge of suffering a major defensive crisis with Kyle Naughton reportedly set to be out for three months.

The Spurs right-back suffered an ankle injury during the game against Southampton following a strong tackle from on-loan Chelsea player Ryan Bertrand. Naughton left the stadium on crutches wearing a protective boot.

The report also claims that there are fears the full back may not play again this season, as he has suffered a similar injury earlier in his career.

Mauricio Pochettino is a worried man and will hope that the injury is not a major one and it is just a heavy bruising of his ankle. The Argentine will be without a specialised full back as first-choice defender Kyle Walker is still recovering from abdominal surgery and a return date is unknown.

New summer arrival Eric Dier replaced Naughton on Sunday and put in an assured performance, but he is a central defender by trade and prefers to play at the heart of the back four.

Pochettino will hope the injury is minor as Spurs face Premier League champions Manchester City following the international break.

Meanwhile, Tottenham captain Younes Kaboul has called on the team to be fully prepared ahead of their visit to the Etihad Stadium.

He has called on the team to put in similar performances like they did against Southampton and Arsenal.

"We need to be mentally and physically prepared," Kaboul said, as quoted by the Standard.

"We need to produce a similar performance to the one against Arsenal. I know each game is different but we need to learn from the Arsenal game because we are going to play a massive team again," the Frenchman added.