Jan Vertonghen in Race Against Time to Return From Injury Ahead of Juventus Encounter

Jan Vertonghen is facing an uphill battle to be fully fit for Tottenham Hotspur's Champions League second leg against Juventus next Wednesday, according to the Evening Standard.

The Belgian has been ruled out of this Wednesday's FA Cup Fifth Round replay against Rochdale, but could be back in contention for Saturday's Premier League fixture against Huddersfield after a positive outcome on the scan of his ankle injury sustained in training.

He missed Sunday's late 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace - where Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier marshaled Spurs to a clean sheet - and now only has one week to regain full sharpness before one of the biggest games in Spurs' history.

The 30-year-old had played every Premier League game for Spurs this season before last weekend, and has been one of their stand out players at the back.

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His manager Mauricio Pochettino expressed his delight at Vertonghen's ankle scan results, saying: "Jan had a scan and it was positive. We are happy as we feel much better. He will certainly not play against Rochdale but he could be available for the weekend."

With Toby Alderweireld sidelined again after a recurrence of the hamstring injury which kept him out for the whole of winter, Pochettino will be ecstatic that Vertonghen's injury is only short-term.

However, the Spurs boss is not one to rush players back from injury and could be confident enough to trust Sanchez and Dier again after their previous promising performance.