- Jul 27, 2004
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So here I am sat at work and what have I forgotten to do. The match thread so here it is a rather hastly put together match thread for the game tonight.
The Official Site Team News:
Martin Jol can report positive news on Gareth Bale and Ledley King.
In-form Gareth was clearly in pain as he limped off after just 20 minutes at Newcastle on Monday but the youngster might only be out for up to 10 days.
"We've scanned the injury several times and nothing is broken," said Martin at Spurs Lodge on Wednesday afternoon.
"There is significant bruising, it is still painful and we'll know more once the bruising has gone down.
"I feel he will be fine though and will only be out for a week to 10 days."
Ledley, meanwhile, looks set to return to full training next week. "He's had no reaction to football drills and hopefully he'll be with us next week. From there, it could take another three to four weeks."
Radek Cerny will continue in goal with Paul Robinson out with his calf injury. "Paul is out for Thursday, a big doubt for Blackburn on Sunday but could be back for Blackpool in the Carling Cup next week," added Martin.
"Young-Pyo Lee is also a doubt with a shoulder problem but he could still be involved."
Ricardo Rocha (ankle) and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) remain out.
Ben Alnwick has been recalled from his loan spell at Luton Town.
Setanta Sports Preview:
As the pressure continues to mount from all directions, Martin Jol will be desperately hoping that the Uefa Cup can be the catalyst to turn the tide on Tottenham’s tumultuous season.
Jol has seen his side win just one Premier League game throughout the current campaign, but they have at least reached the Uefa Cup group stages after a comprehensive 7-2 aggregate win over Anorthosis Famagusta.
Spurs kick-off the rest of their European campaign against a Getafe outfit playing only their third-ever game in European competition.
As such, the game is their first competitive one on English soil, while the fixture will be Spurs’ seventh Uefa club game against Spanish opposition, of which they have won just one.
Getafe’s season thus far is somewhat of a mirror image of Tottenham’s as they too, following a successful campaign last year, have won just one domestic game and currently languish third bottom of the Spanish Primera Liga.
As a result of their struggles, Getafe coach, Danish legend Michael Laudrup, will be hoping to draw upon the limited experience of English football of two of his players.
Romanian right back Cosmin Contra and Kepa Blanco have both had brief loan spells with English outfits at West Brom and West Ham respectively.
Spurs captain and defensive rock Ledley King continues to miss out through injury, but Jol has promised to field his strongest possible team for the game at White Hart Lane but, as usual, has given little indication of who he will pick from his striking quartet of Robbie Keane, Jermaine Defoe, Darren Bent and Dimitar Berbatov.
Prediction: 2-1
BBC Match Squads (take with a pinch of salt):
Tottenham Squad (from): Cerny, Forecast, Chimbonda, Lee, Stalteri, Dawson, Gardner, Kaboul, Tainio, Huddlestone, Jenas, Malbranque, Lennon, Bent, Berbatov, Keane, Defoe, Zokora, Boateng, Taarabt.
3
Team
Subs: Forecast, Tainio, Stalteri, Keane, Boateng, Dawson, Bent.
Right, that's enough fuel for this fixture, don't forget to check [thread=21772]Geez's Media Coverage Thread[/thread] for watching and listening options.