Furthermore, Ugochukwu – on his return from a muscle injury – suffered a hamstring issue and was forced to be withdrawn during the early stages of the second half.

The Frenchman joins Moises Caicedo and Fernandez on the sidelines with the pair having missed the trip to the West Midlands through illness and with a hernia respectively

With just a three-day turnaround before the meeting with the Eagles, Pochettino knows that time is against him having more of his previously-unavailable players back in contention.#

Although the Argentine has hinted that Caicedo may be fit to play some part of the next game, he has ruled out Fernandez making a return and effectively dismissed the possibility of Ugochukwu being able to play.

Speaking to reporters, as quoted by football.london, Pochettino said: “No, Enzo no. But Mo, hopefully yes. Today he was better, yesterday [Saturday] he was a possibility – but it’s a high fever. I hope he can train a little bit and be ready for Palace.”

“With Lesley, we will assess him tomorrow, but I think he felt his hamstring again. I said in the press conference it is important how we reintroduce players, but we were forced because of the problem with Moises to play Lesley.