Chris Hughton may have another selection dilemma or two this weekend beyond his Tottenham line-up.

The City chief will have to formally declare his 25-man Premier League squad now the transfer window has slammed shut for the battles ahead until at least the New Year period.

Injury has robbed Hughton of the chance to see summer signings Steven Whittaker and Jacob Butterfield in meaningful action – but that will not enter the equation.

'No, because for those that have been out with longish-term injuries like Steven and Jacob they are both reasonably close now,' he said. 'Jacob closer because he has played in a development game, but Steven started the pre-season. No, at this moment injury doesn't have a bearing. We'll have to see where we are come the end of the window and those are the decisions I have to make. We all know what the rules and regulations are and we will have to work around that one.

'That decision will be made once we get past the end of this window and we know exactly what we have got.'

Simon Lappin did his cause no harm with a goalscoring outing in the midweek Capital One Cup win over League One strugglers Scunthorpe, but the Scot is poised to be sidelined with an ankle problem for the majority of September.

'He has just jarred his ankle and is just going to be out for a few weeks,' said Hughton. 'Probably two to three weeks, which is actually good news in the sense we thought it was actually worse than that.

'It has settled down a fair amount now and not as bad as we first feared. It was so unfortunate for him how it happened because he looked to have an opportunity to get a second goal in that game. He took up a couple of very good positions. I feel for him because he is a good lad. He trains hard every day and he has a wonderful attitude to training and playing.'