Ziege misses Cup clash

Tottenham’s Christian Ziege is out of tomorrow’s Worthington Cup tie against Cardiff and could be sidelined for months after it was discovered he tore a calf muscle in Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat by Middlesbrough.

It is yet another major injury blow for Spurs boss Glenn Hoddle who cannot even name a squad until tomorrow for the second round clash at White Hart Lane.

But Steffen Freund returns to the squad for the first time since knee surgery in January and goalkeeper Kasey Keller is hopeful of recovering in time from a calf strain sustained on Saturday.

Slovenian Milenko Acimovic is also set to be passed fit after a knock but Jamie Redknapp is a big doubt with ankle trouble while Teddy Sheringham, who started on the bench against Boro, is expected to return.

But with key men like Darren Anderton, Stephen Carr, Gus Poyet, Ledley King and Chris Perry still recovering from long-term injuries, teenagers Jonathan Blondel. Ronnie Henry and Rohan Ricketts are all in contention for places.

PROVISIONAL SQUAD: Keller, Hirschfeld, Davies, Thatcher, Richards, Doherty, Henry, Acimovic, Freund, Bunjevcevic, Ferdinand, Redknapp, Keane, Sheringham, Iversen, Blondel, Ricketts, Rebrov, Etherington.