Alli among 6 Tottenham players ruled out of Barcelona clash; Lloris returns

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino will be short on options for Wednesday's Champions League match against Barcelona with news that six of his players will be absent through injury.

The north London side revealed Tuesday that stars Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen will be unavailable as they deal with hamstring and abdomen problems, respectively. Mousa Dembele and Serge Aurier are out with thigh knocks, while Jan Vertonghen is out with a hamstring injury.

All five players will be sidelined until after the international break, ruling them out of this weekend's encounter with Cardiff City.

Goalkeeper Michel Vorm will also miss the group-stage match against Barca, but he's expected to return to training later this week after dealing with a knee injury.

In Vorm's absence, Hugo Lloris will reclaim his place between the sticks against the Catalan side. It will be Lloris' first appearance since he picked up a thigh injury after Tottenham's win over Manchester United on Aug. 27

Spurs youngster Oliver Skipp is expected to be named to the bench after training with the first team ahead of Wednesday's contest, according to Alistair Tweedale of The Telegraph.

Tottenham kicked off their Champions League campaign in disappointing fashion with an opening-match loss to 10-man Inter Milan, who snatched three points away from Pochettino's men with a pair of late goals.

Meanwhile, Barcelona will enter the tie in poor form after following up their Champions League win over PSV Eindhoven with two draws and a loss in La Liga.