Belgium’s Jan Vertonghen suffers knee injury

Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen is facing a spell on the sidelines after the club confirmed the Belgium international suffered a serious knee injury at Crystal Palace.

The 28-year-old centre-half was forced off after 75 minutes at Selhurst Park, having given the Eagles the lead via an own-goal before Spurs powered to a 3-1 victory in south London to maintain their challenge for a top-four finish in the Premier League.

Vertonghen has now been assessed by Spurs’ medical staff and Belgium boss Marc Wilmots is certain to be in close dialogue over the expected timescale for the former Ajax star’s absence ahead of the European Championship in France.

A Tottenham statement read: “Scans have confirmed that Jan Vertonghen sustained damage to his medial collateral ligament in his knee during our win against Crystal Palace.

“The Belgian defender left the field injured in the second half at Selhurst Park and our medical staff will continue to monitor his progress during his rehabilitation to determine when he will be ready to return to training.”

Wilmots already has big concerns over his captain Vincent Kompany, who is currently sidelined with a calf problem.

The Manchester City skipper has been troubled by a succession of issues to his lower leg and it would be a real blow for the Belgians to be without his services at Euro 2016 this summer.

Belgium are currently the best country in the world – based on Fifa’s rankings – although they are 11.00 to win Euro 2016 behind favourites France (3.75), Germany (4.00) and Spain (6.00).

The Red Devils kick off their European Championship campaign against Italy on June 13.