Dutch boost for Spurs

(GSM) – Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Rafael Van der Vaart trained on Monday handing the North London side a huge boost ahead of their Champions League clash with Internazionale.

Van der Vaart had limped out of Spurs’ 2-0 defeat at Manchester United on Saturday clutching his hamstring.

The Dutchman, who has scored five goals in nine games since his summer move from Real Madrid, was expected to miss Tuesday night’s clash with Inter at White Hart Lane.

But his timely recuperation from the injury has handed Spurs boss Harry Redknapp a huge boost.

Prior to Monday’s training session, Redknapp said: “The problem is I’ve probably got five of our very best players missing. The goalkeeper is out, he is suspended, my two centre-halves are out, and there is also Van der Vaart and Defoe. They are key players right down the middle of the team, so it’s going to be very difficult.

“Van der Vaart is quality, but I think he just got a bit tired and that’s when you get injuries. He hasn’t really had many 90 minutes under his belt. At the World Cup [for Netherlands], he wasn’t playing 90 minutes and when you get to that last 25 minutes and go a bit further than you normally go, that’s when something can go wrong.”