Injured Tainio to miss Spurs return

Teemu Tainio looks likely to miss out on a sentimental return to Tottenham after suffering an injury against Liverpool last weekend.

Tainio has a muscle strain which forced him out of Finland’s friendly international with Israel tonight.

The midfielder, who joined his Finnish team-mates on Sunday, has been sent back to Sunderland for treatment and is a doubt for the game at White Hart Lane on Saturday.

Tainio was one of three players to move to the Stadium of Light from Tottenham this summer.

Black Cats manager Roy Keane said: “Teemu went on international duty with Finland but was sent back, he has a muscle strain and he’ll be a doubt for Saturday.”

Carlos Edwards was another Sunderland player to pull out of international duty this week, for personal reasons, but Keane expects him to be available for the trip to London at the weekend.

Sunderland teenager Martyn Waghorn, meanwhile, will be out for 10 weeks after hurting his knee in training this week.