Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe will return to training later this week after receiving the all-clear following an ankle scare.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp initially revealed that Defoe had suffered an injury during the club’s warm-weather training camp in Dubai on Sunday, it was feared he would face a spell on the sidelines.
However the club have said the England international had been scanned and no significant damage was detected.
“Jermain Defoe will return to training on the squad’s return home this week after undergoing x-rays on his foot following his participation in today’s session,” a statement on Spurs’ official website confirmed.
“The x-rays were clear and the striker is expected to rest tomorrow as a precaution to allow any possible soft tissue irritation to settle.”
Defoe broke down during a session in Al Ahli’s Rashid Stadium on Sunday where Spurs were training as part of their five-day break between matches.
Former West Ham and Pompey frontman Defoe is yet to score in the league this season and initial news of his injury led Redknapp due to bemoan his lengthy list of walking wounded.
“Defoe has an injury again. He’s had a problem with his ankle before and it didn’t feel too good,” Redknapp had told Dubai-based newspaper The National. “We’re trying to finish in the top four and it’s so close. But we’ve got so many players injured, people forget.
“We’ve got Tom Huddlestone, Younes Kaboul, Ledley King, [Jonathan] Woodgate, [Gareth] Bale, [Rafael] Van der Vaart. If you could pick a team of injured players it would be a fantastic team.”
Spurs will return to England on Wednesday ahead of their Premier League match at Wolves on Sunday. Another of the club’s injured players, Vedran Corluka, is expected to be out for two months, which will give Alan Hutton a chance to stake his claim to be the club’s first-choice right-back once more.
The Scot’s last game for Spurs came a month ago when he needlessly barged into Clint Dempsey in the penalty box to gift Fulham their second goal in the Cottagers’ 4-0 rout over their neighbours.
Hutton was rumoured to have had a dressing-room bust-up with Redknapp following the match at Craven Cottage, but Redknapp insists he has not fallen out with the former Rangers man.
“Alan had a groin strain, but he’s fit now,” Redknapp said. “I changed it after Fulham; I brought Corluka back in and we went and won four games on the spin, went to Milan and won. But that’s football: now Charlie [Corluka] is injured, so Alan’s got a chance to get back in the team.”
Tottenham followed up their momentous 1-0 win at the San Siro with a sub-par performance in a 3-1 defeat to Blackpool seven days later. The result put a serious dent in the club’s ambitions for a top-four place, leaving them two points ahead of Chelsea having played one more match.
Redknapp admits the defeat at Bloomfield Road was a big blow for his side, but has urged them to bounce back this weekend.
“We had been playing so well and everything just went wrong on the day,” he said. “But we have to come back from that now.”
Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
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