We all know Jermain Defoe was an injury doubt following Tottenhams whitewash of Burnley last Saturday – the wee striker had to leave the field before the hour because he fell and damaged his hand. But now reports are coming out with a bit more detail, and this is what Harry Redknapp had to say:
“He is struggling. Jermain dislocated two fingers against Burnley last Saturday and they couldn’t get them back in.
But he has also fractured his hand. He spent all Saturday night in hospital and is struggling.
After his form at the beginning of the season Defoe became the striker du jour for fantasy managers, now owned (as of writing) by 31.8% of FPL’s managers. This news means he will almost certainly miss Spurs’ game this weekend at Bolton, but with an international break looming there is a good chance he will be back and raring to go for Spurs’ trip to face his old club Portsmouth on october 17th. Redknapp again would seem to back this up:
Hopefully, he’ll be OK for England but we’ll have to wait and see.
Not a definitive prognosis on the duration of his time on the sidelines, but it doesn’t sound too bad in the long term. If you want to remove Defoe though, there are now two ready made replacements almost certain of starts this weekend, ready to go and hot on form.
Robbie Keane is Spurs’ team captain and will be firing on all cylinders following his four goals in the game against Bolton, no doubt he’ll want to continue to show he too can gets the goals regularly. Peter Crouch will finally want to make his mark too, having to settle for time on the bench more often than not thanks to Defoe’s recent blistering form. Crouch scored a hat-trick in the Carling Cup just last week (including a wonderful back-heel volley – yes, volley), and his aerial threat would have been very likely to see him start against a side like Bolton anyway. He will also undoubtedly want to be in the starting line-up at his old stomping ground Fratton Park the following gameweek – so will need to impress.
Plenty to ponder then, do you stick or shuffle? One could even concede Redknapp might even be happy he doesn’t have to choose from his strikers for a change this week – but when Defoe returns sooner than later, someone will very likely have to be on the bench once more.