Rodrigo Bentancur has been given the all-clear to return to playing after he serves a 12-day concussion protocol. The Tottenham midfielder sparked concern when he collapsed to the turf in his club’s 1-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg win over Liverpool on Wednesday night.

Bentancur was taken away on a stretcher after eight minutes of treatment and was assessed in hospital. The neurological tests have revealed nothing more serious than concussion.

The Uruguay international, who sustained a concussion in Spurs’ opening game of the season at Leicester after a clash of heads, did not appear to collide with another Liverpool player as he tried to reach the ball at a seventh- minute corner. The feeling at Spurs is that he got his arm caught in an unusual position, had nothing to cushion his fall and banged his head down hard against the ground, knocking himself out.

Because it is Bentancur’s second concussion of the season, the rules demand that he does not play games for at least 12 days. His projected return date is against Hoffenheim in the Europa League on 23 January, meaning he will miss the next three matches – against Tamworth in the FA Cup and Arsenal and Everton in the Premier League. After the Leicester game at the start of the season, Bentancur sat out the following fixture against Everton.

“It looks like a concussion but nothing more than that,” the Spurs manager, Ange Postecoglou, said. “He was in the hospital, obviously, and they did all of the tests in terms of checking, making sure everything is OK. And all good. He is back home. He is fine. He is feeling good. We’ll obviously follow the protocols now. I think it is a couple of weeks where you have to make sure everything is OK.

“It was distressing and you saw, especially Pedro [Porro] who was the first one there, he kind of knew it was a distressing situation. I thought the lads handled it well and the medical team handled it well. As I said, thankfully it’s all good.”