Tottenham have been dealt a second serious injury blow in a matter of days after it was confirmed that the ankle ligament injury Jermain Defoe picked up during England's 3-1 win in Switzerland on Tuesday will keep him sidelined for up to six weeks.
Defoe, who scored a hat-trick in last week's 4-0 Euro 2012 qualfying victory against Bulgaria, had to be stretchered off the pitch in Basel although it was initially thought the problem was not serious.
However, after undergoing scans in London, the former West Ham United and Portsmouth star has been told he will not be back in action until late October.
Last week manager Harry Redknapp learned that the knee and ankle injuries Michael Dawson sustained against Bulgaria at Wembley would keep the defender sidelined for two months.
Redknapp has Peter Crouch, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Robbie Keane and Giovani dos Santos in his squad to replace Defoe but will be aware that only Gareth Bale has found the net in Spurs' first three Premier League matches of the campaign.
Defoe will miss the Champions League games against Werder Bremen and Inter Milan, the Premier League fixtures against West Ham United and Aston Villa as well as the Carling Cup third-round tie with Arsenal.