Defoe vows to be back fit in TEN days - Exclusive
Published 23:00 19/03/10 By Darren Lewis
Jermain Defoe last night dismissed fears that his season could be wrecked by injury, insisting: ‘I’ll be back’.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp confirmed yesterday that his star striker and Mirror Sport columnist pulled up with a hamstring strain in training on Thursday morning.
Initial indications suggested Defoe would be out for a month – ruling him out of crucial clashes against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.
But Defoe said last night: “I think I’ll be all right in around 10 days. It’s not as major as people think.
“But because I pulled up in training you have to be careful like the manager says. He’s absolutely right, you have to monitor these things.”
Defoe, who has scored 23 goals this season, will miss today’s trip to Stoke and next Wednesday’s FA Cup quarter-final replay at home to Fulham .
But he laughed off talk that he would miss the cup semi-final on April 11 should Spurs get there.
Indeed, Defoe even believes he could feature against Portsmouth a week today. “I’m optimistic,” he said.
“I don’t get injured that often and normally the type of injury I have takes around 17 days to get recover from. But I think I should be OK before that.
“I pulled up with a sharp pain in training on Thursday and went for a scan which showed I’ve got a grade two tear. Normally its two weeks but I think I’ll be all right.”
Manager Redknapp has described Defoe’s absence as “a massive loss” with winger Aaron Lennon, 27, also battling injury.
Lennon, who has not played since tearing his groin against West Ham on Boxing Day, hopes to return to training next week. But Redknapp said no date has been set for a return to the first team.
He added: “I could sit here and say: ‘Well, he’s going to be back in three to four weeks’, but I could have said that 14 weeks ago. No-one knows.
“I wouldn’t stop him going to the World Cup if he was fit, but I think Fabio Capello will want to see him back playing before he puts him in the England squad.”
Defoe joins Jermaine Jenas, Tom Huddlestone, Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate on the Spurs sick-list. “I dread the physio ringing me,” added Redknapp.
