Jermain Defoe admits having carried groin injury since World Cup

Jermain Defoe admits having carried groin injury since World Cup

• Defoe was forced off in the second-half of Young Boys defeat
• Striker determined not to let injury become more serious


David Hytner
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 August 2010 18.58 BST


Jermain Defoe has admitted to carrying a groin problem since the World Cup finals with England and is determined to manage it better than his Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Aaron Lennon, who suffered a tear to the same area last December and missed almost all of the second half of the season.

Defoe was forced off in the second-half of Tottenham's 3-2 Champions League play-off first-leg defeat to Young Boys of Bern last night, having admitted he "could really feel it as I was sprinting." He collapsed to the ground and was helped off in obvious discomfort, although he later dismissed the substitution as a "precaution".

"I felt a little tweak in my groin during the World Cup," Defoe said. "I have been strengthening it and I just came off as a precaution. Aaron Lennon had the same problem last season and he ripped it. I don't want to miss six or seven months of the season like him. Hopefully, I'll be all right for Stoke on Saturday."

Luka Modric was also forced off, having felt his groin and hamstring towards the end of the first half. He did not reappear for the second period. Like Defoe, the midfielder underwent treatment at the club's training ground today but neither player underwent a scan.