Mark Noble has been firmly ruled out of the weekend game at West Brom by Slaven Bilic.

There has been a not too deep mystery over the captain who we had learned had been omitted from the starting line-up against Huddersfield before taking a knock in training.

There was some scepticism over the train of events but it now seems the earliest he could return would be for the Bolton match although Noble watchers will be watching developments carefully as cup ties have become obvious games for players who are slipping down the pecking order.

So maybe the real test of where he stands in the manager’s plans will come when the side for Spurs is named next weekend.

Discussing the injury situation Bilic revealed: “Marko (Arnautovic)  is back,. He will be in the squad for the game against West Brom.

“It does [give us a selection headache]. It’s good to have him back. Mark [Noble] got a knock on his knee, and it’s nothing serious but he obviously couldn’t play against Huddersfield. He trained today and it’s much better, nothing serious.

“But he definitely won’t play this week – it would be difficult for West Brom. Maybe he will be back for the Bolton game, but not the weekend.

“We have a few bruises and knocks because the game was on Monday and not Saturday or Sunday, but the squad should be fit apart from Noble and then Lanzini and Fernandes who also missed Huddersfield.”

“Fernandes will train in a couple of days but Lanzini hopefully will only be out for one or two more weeks. He is running and training with the ball – so far, so good.”