Redknapp bemoans growing injury list

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp was left counting the cost of the goalless draw with Manchester United following a calf tear for Jermaine Jenas and a back injury that will see Jonathan Woodgate visit a specialist.

There are fears that Woodgate has aggravated the problem that hindered his progress at Real Madrid and his loss is amplified by Ledley King being unable to play regular football due to his knee complaints.

Redknapp is now looking at loans to bolster his squad and provide cover when the January transfer window opens.

“Apparently he had a back problem when he signed here so he needs to see a specialist,” said Redknapp after Woodgate limped off early at White Hart Lane.

“The club doctor said it was the type of injury he had when he came here. Jenas has a tear in his calf.”

Redknapp will now blood some of his youth players for Thursday’s UEFA Cup clash against Spartak Moscow, as Vedran Corluka and Roman Pavlyuchenko are cup-tied.

Adel Taarabt, Ricardo Rocha, Hossam Ghaly, Paul Stalteri and Kevin-Prince Boateng would have been in contention for places but were not registered for European competition by former boss Juande Ramos. They were not even given squad numbers until Redknapp arrived.

“Every manager says their squad is stretched but if I hadn’t brought the five back that were cast aside when I came here, we’d be desperate,” said the Spurs boss. “We need some cover when we have injuries. You need a squad.

“Those five aren’t in the UEFA Cup squad so I’ve got kids out of the youth team because you have

to have so many homegrown players in your squad.”

One less problem for Redknapp to worry about is goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who made a series of blunders earlier in the season but kept United out with a last-minute save to deny Ryan Giggs.

“Everyone here helped me and I am in great form now,” said the Brazilian, signed from PSV Eindhoven in the summer.

“Harry has helped me all time and so has everyone here. This is really important for me.”

Redknapp’s best signing so far may be goalkeeper coach Tony Parks.

Spurs’ 1984 UEFA Cup hero had an arm around Gomes at half-time to offer encouragement and was first to congratulate him after his the final whistle.

“Tony is a good character and a big personality,” Redknapp said. “He spends hours and hours with him and has built a strong relationship with him.

“I think he’s been a big help for him in terms of confidence of belief. I can see there is more of a spring in his step.”

Redknapp had severe doubts over Gomes, despite assurances from the goalkeeper coach at PSV during the trip to face NEC Nijmegen just over a fortnight ago.

“He told us not to worry and that Gomes is a world-class goalkeeper,” Redknapp said. “At that time,

I wasn’t sure if he’d been drinking.”

Michael Dawson’s performance against United was not far behind Gomes’ efforts, and the defender has warned that Spurs are still in a relegation fight despite collecting 17 points from 27 since Redknapp’s arrival.

“It’s still tight at the bottom, we have to be realistic and make sure we get out of the relegation battle,” Dawson said. “We have the quality to climb up the table and we can with performances like against United.

“We’ll have no problem but we have to keep battling and fighting like we’ve been doing.”

Cristiano Ronaldo appeared fortunate to escape a red card from referee Mike Dean when he aimed a kick at Dawson following a heavy challenge.

“It was petulance,” said BBC pundit Alan Shearer. “We’ve seen it from him once or twice before and if Dawson went down he could have been in trouble.”

The stalemate meant a frustrating afternoon for Dimitar Berbatov, who barely had a sniff of a chance at the ground he played at for two seasons.

“It was not his afternoon,” admitted United boss Alex Ferguson.

United now travel to Japan for the FIFA Club World Cup having missed an opportunity to take advantage of Arsenal and Liverpool only getting draws this weekend.

“We are delighted to be going,” Ferguson added. “It is an honour for our club and we will go there to try and win it.”