Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier will miss the North London derby after picking up a four-match ban for his actions after the FA Cup match against Norwich.

The FA announced on Wednesday that Eric Dier will serve a four-match ban following an independent review of his actions following Tottenham Hotspur’s exit from the FA Cup against Norwich City.

The FA Regulatory Commission determined that his actions were both improper and threatening, despite the player’s claims that they were simply improper.

They also denied that the player’s pursuit of the fan was purely to protect his brother. Dier continued to chase the spectator through the stands even when any potential threat to his brother was gone.

For the record, Dier’s brother started the altercation with the fan in the first place. Although, he was responding to the fan verbally abusing the Spurs centre-back. To be honest, there are no innocent parties in the saga.

The net result is that Dier will miss the North London derby at the weekend, and four of Spurs’ final five games of the season.

Some will argue this is no great loss to the team, and I’d be inclined to agree. Then again, Mourinho was clearly a big fan of Dier, starting him in every game since the football restart.