Eleven stars may be sidelined as Spurs battle injury crisis

TOTTENHAM were today facing a major injury crisis ahead of theirPremier League clash with Blackburn. Spurs could have an entire team out injured and only one fit striker fortoday’s game at White Hart Lane.

Eight players are definitely sidelined, with a further three rated doubtful, including Tom Huddlestone (ankle), Roman Pavlyuchenko (back) and David Bentley (calf).

Robbie Keane (ankle) and Aaron Lennon (hamstring) are still missing, and Giovani dos Santos (groin) is also out, joining captain Ledley King (groin), Jermain Defoe, Michael Dawson (both ligament damage), Jamie O’Hara (back) and Jonathan Woodgate (groin) in the treatment room.

Assistant manager Kevin Bond said: “We’ve got 11 of our first-team squad out or probably not likely to be fit for the weekend. So we’re struggling on the injury front at the moment.”

Should Pavlyuchenko —who went off injured at half-time of Tuesday against Sunderland — fail to make it, that would leave Peter Crouch as Tottenham’s only fit forward. Russia star Pavlyuchenko has been undergoing acupuncture in a desperate bid to make himself available and Bond admitted medics were prepared to do “anything to try to get him fit”.

Rafael van der Vaart is set to play but Tottenham’s talismanic summer signing from Real Madrid has also been suffering from tightness in his hamstrings due to not having a proper pre-season. Bond said: “We are trying to work on it but it’s very difficult because, at the moment, we’re playing two games a week. We need a free week to get on the training ground and do some extra work. Hopefully, we think, the games themselves will bring him on a bit as well.”

All is not well with Crouch either, with the England striker in the middle of a six-month goal drought in the league. Bond said: “He’s just going through one of those periods where he’s not scoring himself but I think nearly every goal that Rafa scores comes off a Peter Crouch assist.”

Spurs’ injury crisis has come at the worst possible time, with the club having taken just two points out of 12 in the league to leave themselves battling to secure Champions League football for a second straight season.

After today’s fixture, Tottenham face a run of six domestic and European matches including clashes with Arsenal, Werder Bremen, Liverpool, FC Twente and Chelsea.