Mauricio Pochettino will be down two centerbacks for Saturday’s home friendly vs. Belgium and could very be without both of them against Portugal.

Chris Richards and Miles Robinson have been ruled out of tomorrow’s showdown with the Belgians at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Pochettino confirmed Friday in his prematch press conference. 

Richards entered camp after a busy week with Crystal Palace, which featured UEFA Conference League action in Cyprus. Crystal Palace reported a knee issue with Richards and after he trained part of Tuesday, he did finish training Wednesday. 

His status for Tuesday’s date with Portugal has not yet been determined.

“The club [Crystal Palace] gave permission to come to America and he report[ed] some problems in his knee,” Pochettino said. “After we were assessing him, he was training some part of the training Tuesday but he [could] not finish Wednesday and he now feels something in his knee.

“We hope that it’s nothing important but for tomorrow [he] is out and I don’t believe that [he] can arrive Tuesday,” he added.

Robinson has been diagnosed with a groin injury, which he suffered in training this week. The FC Cincinnati defender has been ruled out of Tuesday’s match as well, ending his international window.

“Miles Robinson is out for the two games,” Pochettino said. “He suffered a minor groin injury.”

With Richards and Robinson both unavailable for Saturday, it leaves Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie, and Auston Trusty as the only healthy centerbacks for Pochettino to choose from.