Tottenham Reveal Length of Midfielder's Injury Absence

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho will miss the next four weeks after suffering "significant ligament damage" to his right ankle following a challenge with Charlie Adam in the win over Stoke City.

Paulinho was replaced by Etienne Capoue after the hour mark following a tackle from Adam, who escaped punishment from referee Kevin Friend.

And the Brazilian will likely miss Tottenham's next five games as the club look to breathe new life into their Champions League qualification attempts.

"Following a MRI scan, the Club can confirm that Paulinho has sustained significant ligament damage to his right ankle after a heavy challenge from Charlie Adam during Sunday's win against Stoke City," a club statement read.

"The Brazil international was forced off as a result of the injury and is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks."

While several of Tottenham's summer signings have been criticised for their limited impact, with four goals in the early months of his career at White Hart Lane, Paulinho has impressed since joining from Corinthians.

But the 25 year old will miss the Premier League games against Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Swansea City and Manchester City as well as the FA Cup third round tie against Arsenal.

Paulinho joins the ever-growing injury list at Tottenham which includes Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose and Sandro and will likely swell interim manager Tim Sherwood's desire to sign new players in the January transfer window.

Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph report Tottenham will submit an official complaint to the Football Association over Adam, after the third occasion in which the Scottish midfielder has injured a Spurs player.

Adam twice injured former winger Gareth Bale during spells at Blackpool and Liverpool while the challenge on Paulnho represents the latest injury inflicted on a Tottenham player.

On the tackle which damaged his ankle ligaments, Bale said last year: "What he did was over the top.

"Some people are like that and it's just wrong. There are pictures on the internet of what he did before when he snapped all my ankle ligaments. I was out for three months that time and one player told me he went out to do it again."