Bad news for Defoe, good news for Keane?

Robbie Keane may have been granted a Spurs lifeline with the news that Jermaine Defoe requires surgery on a long-term groin problem.

The England striker could miss up to a month meaning more game time for Keane, who has been linked in recent weeks with moves to Aston Villa and West Ham amongst others.

Defoe will have groin surgery on Tuesday and is set to be out for between two and four weeks, missing England’s European Championship qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland and possibly Spurs’ Barclays Premier League games against West Brom and Wolves.

The 27-year-old has been dogged by the problem since the World Cup and his playing time has become gradually more restricted since.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp had hoped to schedule the striker’s operation for last Thursday but the German surgeon the club want to perform the procedure was unavailable until next week.

The delay has allowed Defoe to play a part in what he has described as “one of the biggest games of my career”: tonight’s Champions League play-off round second leg against Young Boys.

“Everyone’s looking forward to it,” he said.

“We worked so hard to get here and we want to make the most of it and win the game, and get through to the group stage.”

Should Spurs overturn a shock 3-2 first-leg deficit tonight, their first group game will be on September 14 or 15, around the time Defoe is expected to be back from his operation.

“Everyone wants to play in the Champions League,” he added.

“On Tuesday nights, you don’t want to be at home watching Eastenders.

“You want to be at the Lane at playing against the great players in the world and at the fantastic stadiums.

“For a lot of the boys, it’s the first time playing in the Champions League and it’s great, especially when you put the hard work in and you feel like you deserve to be there on that stage.”

Redknapp must decide tonight whether or not to start with Defoe, who he admits is now only capable of playing for around 45 minutes.

The Spurs boss said: “It’s getting less each time – the pain’s getting worse.”