King returns for Seville encounter

LEDLEY KING could only watch from the sidelines as Tottenham crashed out of two competitions in his absence — but he is back for their final chance of silverware this season.

The Spurs skipper is in the squad for the second leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-final against Sevilla after more than three months out with feet problems.

His timing could not be better, with Martin Jol’s men 2-1 down from the first leg in Spain and facing a defensive crisis, with King and Michael Dawson the only available centre-backs.

With Young-Pyo Lee and Paul Stalteri the latest full-backs to pick up injury problem, Pascal Chimbonda is expected to move over to left-back with Phil Ifil on the right.

“I feel and he feels that he is ready,” said Spurs boss Jol of his skipper.

“We talked about it almost every day. Sevilla was always the target to include him in the squad.

“It was probably a coincidence that Young-Pyo Lee is out and Paul Stalteri is probably out — we couldn’t foresee that.”

Statistics point to Spurs performing better with their skipper in the starting XI, and he was on the winning side the five games before he picked up the injury on Boxing Day.

The 26-year-old was only expected to be out for a month but had a setback in training just before Arsenal knocked Spurs out of the Carling Cup.

He also missed the FA Cup defeat to Chelsea but felt fit enough for a return for the league clash at Stamford Bridge last weekend, although Jol refused to rush his skipper’s comeback.

Dutchman Jol also told King to rest on the day before the game as the defender was feeling an ache and the hard pitches at Spurs Lodge could have been a problem.

“If someone is injured you cannot play him,” added Jol. “We waited and did not take the risk with him.

“Two weeks ago we mentioned the game against Chelsea and he wanted to start, but we said no and that was probably better — he had a couple of good training sessions.”

King has been back in full contact training since last week and midfielder Didier Zokora admits players have been careful not to injure their skipper again.

Despite the defeat to Sevilla and a narrow reverse at Chelsea, Zokora expects victory.

“We’re playing at home and all the players are very motivated,” he said.