Antonio Conte receives huge Tottenham injury boost with key midfielder nearing return

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has revealed midfielder Oliver Skipp will join the rest of the squad in training next week after showing signs of improvement.

The English midfielder is yet to kick a ball this season having suffered a muscle injury just when he was on his way back from a back injury he operated on in the summer.

Spurs have won two of their first three games of the campaign and showed resilience to pick a point at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.

The potential return of Skipp will add more bite and dynamism to the Spurs midfield and generate competition within the squad as the games begin to pile up.

Italian manager Conte revealed the midfielder alongside defender Cristian Romero on track to join the rest of the squad next week.

He told reporters: “Cuti (Cristian Romero) recovery is going very well. I think at the start of next week, like Skippy, they start to have the training session with the rest of the team.

“But for this game they are not available. I have to check a couple of situations about Lucas and Gil because today they didn’t have a training session with us but we have tomorrow to make the right decision for both players.”

Spurs looking for best start since 2016

Tottenham will equal their best start since the 2015 campaign where they went four games unbeaten if they can avoid a defeat at the City Ground this weekend.

The last time they did that, they went on to finish second in the Premier League.

Antonio Conte has reignited the fire of his players and the new signings have added strength in depth to a squad that looked like they were going nowhere when he first walked through the door.

Nottingham Forest have lost only one of their first three Premier League games this season and have beaten Spurs six times in the last nine league encounters, though the last time they met was in 1999.