London: Tottenham have suffered a major blow after learning that influential midfielder Rafael van der Vaart will miss at least six weeks with a hamstring injury he picked up against Manchester City last weekend.
He will now be unavailable for at least the next four Premier League matches for Spurs, as well as their opening Europa League fixtures against PAOK Salonica and Shamrock Rovers.
The influential Dutchman had started the season looking sharp but was unable to prevent Harry Redknapp's team from losing their two opening Premier League fixtures heavily against Manchester United and the ever-improving Manchester City.
"It's the last thing we need. It's a bad injury. He was in good form for us," Spurs boss Harry Redknapp told The Sun.
Van der Vaart missed the Netherlands' record 11-0 victory over San Marino in their Euro 2012 Group E qualifier on Friday and will miss their next qualifier against Finland on Tuesday. He is also unlikely to be fit in time for the group leaders' final two qualifiers against Moldova and Sweden in October.
The 28-year-old tore his left hamstring late on in the heavy 5-1 defeat to City last Sunday, and his absence will come as a huge loss to Redknapp, who was less active than he would have liked in the recent transfer window.
Van der Vaart joined Spurs from Real Madrid on the last day of the transfer window in August last year and was their topscorer in the league last season, with 13 goals in 28 appearances.
Tottenham currently sit at the bottom of the Premier League after their two opening losses, though they will be hoping to get off the mark when they travel to Mick McCarthy’s unbeaten Wolves side next weekend.
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