New injury worry for Woodgate

Jonathan Woodgate has suffered a fresh injury setback after a scan last night showed the Tottenham defender had sustained a strain of the left adductor muscle.

The White Hart Lane club confirmed Woodgate picked up the injury after coming on as a substitute in Tuesday night’s Champions League win over AC Milan, his first appearance following a 15-month lay-off.

The 31-year-old will be assessed over the next few days.

Woodgate came off the bench to make a 35-minute appearance in Spurs’ win at the San Siro after Vedran Corluka had to come off after being pole-axed by Matthieu Flamini’s horrific two-footed lunge.

It was Woodgate’s first outing since picking up a groin problem in Tottenham’s 9-1 win over Wigan in November 2009.

He revealed after the game how delighted he was to be back.

“It was a great feeling to get back,” the former Real Madrid man said.

“There is nothing worse than when you can’t play football. Watching games is painful when you’re injured but you try to spur the lads on and give them all the confidence they need.

“A lot of people doubted whether I’d be able to get back but you have to show determination to not let bad times get you down and you have to just keep going.”