Mourinho: Tottenham's Situation 'Couldn't Be Worse' After Heung-Min Son Injury

Jose Mourinho has said Tottenham Hotspur's situation "couldn't be worse" after Heung-Min Son joined his injury list with a fractured arm, suggesting his forward may not play again this season. 

Spurs released a statement on Tuesday confirming Son suffered the injury during Sunday's dramatic 3-2 win at Aston Villa, where the South Korean netted a match-winning brace.

The north Londoners are without Harry Kane for the foreseeable future after he tore his hamstring in January. Mourinho told reporters he's "not counting on" Son to be back before the end of the season, via Football Daily:

Kane (11) and Son (nine) have scored 20 Premier League goals between them this term—as much as the rest of the current Spurs squad have contributed—and their manager appeared downbeat:

"The situation couldn't be worse in terms of options. It's a very, very obvious situation. There is nothing that you can do. We are going to play with the players that we have available. The players are going to give everything, which is what they are doing. In some periods I was worried about not having attacking options on the bench, now it's not having attacking options on the pitch."

Son, 27, bagged his fourth brace of the season at Villa Park, having now scored four goals in his last three Premier League games after decisive contributions in wins over Manchester City (2-0) and Norwich City (2-1):

Mourinho was addressing the media ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Champions League last-16 first leg at home to RB Leipzig, who are one point below leaders Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

Tottenham's statement said Son will be sidelined for "a number of weeks," though Mourinho appeared to suggest the vague nature of that assessment masked the real impact: "I think Simon [Felstein, Tottenham's Head of Communications] found a very nice way to write the statement. If I was to write it, I'd write something different. We miss him, according to Simon, for a number of weeks."

Spurs academy graduate Troy Parrott has played only five minutes of Premier League football, but Alasdair Gold of Football.London wondered whether he'll be promoted among the senior staff:

Mourinho shot down that idea, however, adding the 18-year-old Republic of Ireland international "is not ready."

Lucas Moura and new signing Steven Bergwijn are the only remaining senior forwards available at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the Spurs boss suggested a change in style will be required with Son out of contention.

The Special One has previously bemoaned the injuries in north London since he took charge of Tottenham in November, with Ben Davies, Erik Lamela and Moussa Sissoko enduring considerable spells out of action.

Mourinho said Spurs were on the "minus 12th floor" when he arrived (a nod to their league position), but someone "took the stairs away" when they got to the fourth floor, now "holding by our arms on the balcony":

"Now we have two options. To fall and die because it's the fourth floor. The other is to climb. We will be on that balcony fighting with everything we have. There is only one possibility. No strikers, no market, no players nothing. The only help now is our crowd. The Tottenham supporters. That's the only thing I ask because I can't ask any more from the players that they're giving. which is everything they have."

Tottenham's chances of advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals for the second time in as many campaigns will be substantially affected by the loss of their two top scorers this season.

Mourinho's managerial wits will be put to the test in the weeks and months to come, which threatens to expose Spurs' failure to sign a senior striker during the winter transfer window.