Harry Redknapp’s Friday press conference brought us an array of interesting developments ahead of Tottenham’s trip to Stoke.
The Spurs boss has reported that striker Jermain Defoe has a slight hamstring problem, defender Ledley King is trying to recover from the knee injury sustained in training last Friday, while Gareth Bale picked up a slight knock against Bolton last weekend.
“We’ve one or two knocks…Jermain has had a bit of a hamstring this week, Ledley took a bang on the knee in training last week and Gareth has had a problem this week. We’ll wait and see how they are.”
Fantasy managers will immediately be on alert to the news concerning Bale and Defoe – for very different reasons. Bale has been a major transfer target this week and his possible absence would come as a serious blow to his recent investors. For our money, he’ll start, although clearly there is some doubt based on Redknapp’s statement.
The news on Defoe is perhaps more significant as it could directly influence the chances of Rafael Van der Vaart earning a recall to the starting lineup. The Dutchman was kept on the bench following a return from his own hamstring injury against Bolton. However, if there is a doubt over Defoe’s fitness, there’s every chance that this would help justify the re-introduction of Van der Vaart, despite Defoe’s recent form.
Realistically, if either Bale or Defoe are absent, Van der Vaart will surely start at Stoke – an outcome that will concern the thousands who have already opted to sacrifice the Dutchman prior to the gameweek deadline.
