Jose Mourinho says Dele Alli has a ‘small’ hamstring injury, and he’ll miss Spurs’ visit to Bournemouth, ahead of the North London derby this weekend.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Mourinho ruled Alli out of Spurs’ game against Bournemouth on Thursday. Whilst he claimed it’s only a minor hamstring injury, it certainly casts doubt over the player’s ability to feature in the North London derby this Sunday.

“Small but not ready for tomorrow,” Mourinho said. “We know that he had a little sad history about hamstrings last season I think so it’s better to be careful and not risk when you know that he has a little problem there. So tomorrow out.”

It’s hard to know whether that will keep Alli out of the derby match this weekend or not. If he really has an injury, even a minor one, it probably won’t heal in time for Sunday. But if they’re only leaving him out as a precaution, the chances of a return are much better.

When in doubt, assume the injured Spurs player will be back fit and at 100% by the time they play against Arsenal.

For once, Arsenal are going into a game with a little bit of an edge on their opponents, when it comes to rest and recovery. After a very busy schedule to this point, the Gunners have a four-day break, their joint-longest rest period since football’s return.

The Gunners had two days off between Manchester City and Brighton, then four, two, two, two and two between the fixtures after that. So this is only the second time they’ve had three days or more.

Now we just need Bournemouth to at least make Spurs work, so Arsenal can get some benefit from the situation.