Good news for King

Harry Redknapp has eased the worries of Tottenham fans by claiming that defender Ledley King will be back soon as his latest injury is not as bad as first expected.

The centre-back was taken off during the 2-2 draw with Newcastle in the Premier League and first impressions were that he had taken another knock in his ongoing battle with his legs, but a scan revealed that the injury was not too severe.

“Ledley has had a scan. He has a slight tear in his abductor. It’s not too bad,” he told Sky Sports.

“It’s only a grade one tear, which is not so bad, so it shouldn’t be too long.”

Although the long term does not look so bad, the injury gives Redknapp some selection problems as King joins Michael Dawson, William Gallas and Verdan Corluka on the sidelines.

“Central defence is a big problem for us,” he added.

“We are really down to two central defenders [Sebastian Bassong and Younes Kaboul].”

“The problem is that we have no one who will be back fit at the weekend so if one of them gets a knock on Thursday, we will be bang in trouble for Sunday’s game against Blackburn.”

Spurs take on Rubin Kazan in the Europa League on Thursday.