Injury concerns cloud perfect Spurs start
LONDON - A potential injury crisis is looming on the otherwise bright horizon for Tottenham Hotspur after the club maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season with a dramatic late winner on Saturday.
Aaron Lennon's wonderfully-worked goal deep into added time gave Spurs a heart-stopping 2-1 victory over Birmingham City and kept them up with Chelsea at the top of the table.
With four wins out of four in the league, Tottenham have made their best start to a season since their Double-winning campaign of 1960-61 but manager Harry Redknapp is worried about the lengthening casualty list.
Captain Ledley King and Croatian playmaker Luka Modric were both injured on Saturday, joining centre-backs Michael Dawson and Jonathan Woodgate, goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes and midfielder Jermaine Jenas on the sidelines.
"Any more (injuries) and we will be short of numbers," Redknapp told reporters. "We might need to get another body in to strengthen us up if we can find someone before the transfer window closes on Tuesday."
King failed to re-appear after a goalless first half against Birmingham because of a groin injury, and Modric went off five minutes after the break with a calf problem that needs a scan to determine its severity.
The introduction of tall striker Peter Crouch in place of Modric proved to be the turning point.
Crouch headed against the crossbar and had another header cleared off the line before he opened the scoring with a looping header from a Tom Huddlestone free-kick, his first league goal for Spurs following his recent move from Portsmouth.
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Three minutes later a mix-up allowed Lee Bowyer to equalise with a simple tap-in and Spurs survived a couple of scares before snatching all three points with Lennon's late heroics.
He also scored the winner against West Ham last week and, in front of the watching England manager Fabio Capello, showed some wonderful skill, controlling a pass from Roman Pavlyuchenko, cutting inside from the left and scoring with a low shot.