The Spurs Blog

Boss Martin Jol is worried skipper Ledley might return from injury prematurely.

“I talked to him last week and he said ‘I feel I’ll be back against Chelsea away’ and I said don’t gamble on it,” said Jol.

“I can’t push him. It wasn’t only his left foot but his right as well.

“It’s a matter of not pushing him, and giving him the right stretches all the time.

“He could be back in a week but I’ve said that before. I don’t want to say anything to the supporters because he fell back before. You can’t take a risk.

“It wasn’t even broken. Robin van Persie at Arsenal had the same - they had to break his foot to get it right.

“We didn’t want to break a bruised foot, which can be even worse than a broken one.

“He’s increasing his volume of running and doing a lot of ball work now.”

We are being heavily linked with both Birmingham City’s Mathew Upson and West Brom’s Curtis Davies for the upcoming transfer window.

Now although I think we are fine in that area (Centre half), if we to make a move who would you prefer?

I know Davies is a very talented young lad and has already skippered the Baggies and he is only 21 but I think Upson is more established in the Premiership (Plus nine caps for England) and besides the MAJOR FACT THAT HE USED TO PLAY FOR THE GOONER SCUM should be a good acquisition.

Both seem to have potential to improve our squad but I want to know why we are searching for centre half. Marty says so it will allow him to play Ledley in more advanced role but I think (and I know everyone will agree) that Tommy Huddlestone is doing an amazing job in the heart of the midfield. The kid has something special. I know I might be jumping the gun but I honestly believe he is in a similar mould to the Gerrard’s and the Lampard’s of this world.

Anyway lets see what Marty does, I won’t doubt him. Keep up the good work…

But……………… please sign another flanker and never drop Huddlestone.

Skipper Ledley King is confident we can go all the way to lift the UEFA CUP this season.

“Being captain of the club, you realise you will get the job of lifting the trophy if we win a cup,” said King.

“It is something that I want to do in my career and with the team we have at the moment, I think we are definitely capable of winning something.”

Martin Jol is likely to shuffle his big squad in order to rest regulars Ledley King, Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane for the Carling Cup match against Port Vale tonight.

Steed Malbranque is likely to make his debut, with Danny Murphy, Tom Huddlestone and Edgar Davids also in line to start the match.

Inspirational skipper Ledley King says the long standing record against Chelsea was not a factor in the hard fought 2-1 victory over London rivals Chelsea.

“With not having beaten them for so long it is nice to get it out of the way, but it was not really about that for a lot of the players we have got at the club,” said King.

“A lot of them were not familiar with the record and we saw it as another game against probably the best team in the league at the moment.

“It was always going to be difficult, you could see that we were up for it and it was a great all-round performance.

“For us it was another game, we take one game at a time and we happened to be playing Chelsea.

“We wanted the points as much as we will in our next league game. There was extra spice because they are champions and a lot of the players have not even played Chelsea before for Tottenham.

“We are aware of their qualities and we just wanted to put ourselves up against them.”

Tottenham fans will be glad to hear that stars Aaron Lennon and Ledley King are both progressing well from their respective injuries.

Exciting flanker Lennon has returned to training and is well ahead of schedule following his injury earlier this season while England defender Ledley King should be fit to face Aston Villa this weekend.

Manager Martin Jol said: “He (Ledley King) had some fluid in his knee, they (England) decided to pull him out and I thank Steve McClaren for that because I felt if he had played we would have had a problem and everybody knows Ledley is important for us,” 

“He can’t train today, but hopefully he’ll train tomorrow and travel with us.”

Ledley King is confident Spurs will pick up their performances and move up the Premiership table soon.

He said: “We’ve brought in new players and lost Michael Carrick.

“It can take a little while to gel.

“We’re still confident of winning back-to-back games and climbing straight up the table.”

Ledley King is eager to get another taste of European football following a string of injuries which has prevented him showing his potential on the bigger stages.

King admitted: “I’ve had so many injuries I can’t even remember them all — so it’s about time things changed for me.

“Missing out on the World Cup was particularly tough as I’d been in the England squad all the way through.

“That was probably the hardest thing I’ve had to take in my football career so far.

“It was a massive blow but I have always been strong in the head so I just had to knuckle down and get through it.

“I missed the European Championship finals for totally different reasons — my wife gave birth prematurely so I headed straight for home.

“Then I could hardly believe it when I missed out on the start of this campaign as I’d done the hard graft in pre-season then picked up a cartilage problem which needed an op.

“All this after I could play no part in the run-in last season because of my foot injury.

“The club came so close to getting a Champions League place, only missing out on the last day of the season.

“I’ve managed to stay positive, though, by accepting injuries are part of the game.

“One thing is for certain, I’m not counting my chickens ahead of the UEFA Cup game and will finally know I’ve started a big match when I hear the first whistle.”

When asked about the progress of the team so far this season King said: “It’s not been the start we thought of but, on a personal note, I’m just glad to be back out there playing. It’s been a long time.

 “The European tie might be a nice way to take our minds off the league but I can tell you all the lads are hungry for European success.

“We’ve looked at what Middlesbrough achieved last season in reaching the final and are thinking ‘Why not?’

“It’s been a long, hard road to get back into Europe and I must admit when I sat on the bench against Kaiserslautern six years ago, I was thinking we’d play in Europe every week!”

Star defender Ledley King is on target to return for the next Premiership fixture against Manchester United.

“Yes, I think I’m on target for that (Manchester United),” King told the club’s official website.

“With the internationals it’s two weeks before the United game so the break has worked out well for me.

“I haven’t missed that many games, just three in the first week, so that’s not too bad.

“I can’t wait to get back out there first in full training and then the games.”

Ledley King is excited with his return to action. So am I

He said:”It was nice to be back out there to get some minutes under my belt and most importantly to get through the game with no problems,” King told the club’s official website.

“It’s been a long time, especially over the summer watching all the games in the World Cup.

“It was great to be back and playing with the lads again.

“It was a disappointing end to the season both for me personally in terms of the injury and the team just missing out on fourth place.

“I then had the disappointment with England as well.

“All these things make you stronger and next season I’m determined to bounce back and enjoy another good season at Spurs.”